Swiping Assets
by MoxiesdenLovesShandy
Summary: Andy and Sharon take Matthew to Disneyland. But, before they go, will their plans be derailed by a new case involving someone from their past?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Here's the next story! This story picks up a couple of days after the events in "Heist and Hostages". Hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 1

"I can't believe you dragged me shopping this morning with you!" Provenza grumbled to Andy as he got out of the car. "Look, Sharon wanted me to grab a couple of things for our trip this afternoon," Andy said as Provenza gave him a look. "Plus, Matthew wanted to go shopping with his favorite uncle," Andy added as Matthew got out of the car's backseat. Provenza looked at Matthew and then back at Andy as they walked into the store. "Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with," Provenza said and the three of them walked inside. Andy grabbed a shopping cart and pulled out the list that Sharon wrote for him. Provenza glanced at Andy and shook his head. "What?" Andy asked as he started to push the cart. "She has you whipped, my friend," Provenza said as they started to walk towards the fresh produce section of the store.

"Oh please like Patrice doesn't have you taught!" Andy said as he made his way over to the grapes and grabbed a bunch, placing them in a plastic bag. Andy placed them in the cart and then looked back at the list he held. "Your mom wants us to get Hawaiian buns, can you go find them for me," Andy said to Matthew and then Matthew walked over to where they were located by the fresh breads. Andy then watched Provenza place some bananas in the cart. "What?" Provenza said to Andy as he continued to get items that Patrice wanted. Andy shook his head and they continued shopping in the store.

"So, where are you going again?" Provenza asked Andy as they walked down the aisle that had the cereal. "We are taking Matthew to Disneyland and staying at one of the park's resorts. Nicole, Dean, and the kids are also coming with as well," Andy said to Provenza. "Huh, that should be fun, all those people waiting in long lines to ride rides that last 30 seconds or less!" Provenza grumbled again. Matthew looked at Provenza and so did Andy for that matter. "Are you finished?" Andy asked Provenza, annoyed.

They continued shopping getting everything on the list that Sharon wrote down and even a few other things that weren't on her list. They made their way towards the checkout and Matthew helped place all of the items on the scanner belt. "Oh, it's so nice to take your grandson shopping with you," a woman said to Andy as she was waiting to check out as well. "Actually he's my son," Andy said politely to her. "Oh, well the both of you must be very proud!" the woman said as she walked away towards another checkout lane. "What's that supposed to mean?" Provenza muttered as he watched her walk away from them. "I think she thought we were a couple and that Matthew belonged to the both of us," Andy said chuckling as he placed some of the items on the belt.

Andy paid for the items that they bought and Matthew loaded the cart back up with the bags. Andy and Matthew then waited for Provenza to finish paying for the items that he was purchasing when someone yelling caught Andy's attention. Andy looked up towards the exit and saw a man wearing a security guard uniform yelling at some teenager. Provenza walked up to Andy and looked in the direction that Andy was focused on. "Come on Flynn let's go this way," Provenza said to Andy. "No, hang on a second!" Andy said to Provenza as he waived him off. Andy proceeded towards the commotion at the other exit. "Come on Flynn, we don't have time for this!" Provenza called out to Andy who was already walking over to the security guard. Matthew followed Andy and the cart and eventually Provenza followed the both of them.

"Hey! What seems to be the problem here?" Andy said to the security guard as he walked up to the scene. "Well, it seems here that this young fellow wanted to walk off with all of this merchandise inside his jacket," the security guard stated to Andy without looking at him. Andy glanced at Provenza who caught up to him and Matthew. Provenza shook his head and pointed at the exit. Andy held up his hand and waited for the security guard to turn around. As soon as the security guard turned around, both Andy and Provenza recognized him. "Oh geeze!" Andy mumbled as he saw Jonathan Baird, aka Dick Tracy, standing in front of him. "Son of a!" Provenza started to say. "Oh, hey guys!" Jonathan said to the two of them and then looked back at the teenager he just caught.

"What are you doing here?" Provenza asked Jonathan. "What does it look like, Louie. I work here now, for a couple of years, thanks to a very well written letter of recommendation from you," he said to him as he nudged him in the arm. Provenza looked at Andy and then back at Dick Tracy. Andy shook his head and looked down at the ground. Jonathan motioned for the store manager to come over to their area and had the teenager follow the manager to another office. "Hey! So how's my favorite detective team of the LAPD?" Jonathan asked the two of them. "Just fine," Provenza said to him as Jonathan smiled at both of them. He then looked at Matthew. "And who's this little fellow here?" Jonathan asked them. "This is my son, Matthew," Andy said to him. "Well, hello there partner, I'm Dick Tracy, and I worked with your dad a couple of times!" Jonathan said to Matthew and held out his hand for Matthew to shake. "That's not your name!" Provenza yelled.

"I'm so glad I ran into the two of you this morning," Jonathan said to them. "Oh yeah, why is that?" Andy asked him as Provenza wanted to leave. "Well you see here, I've busted ten teenagers all with shoplifting within the past week," Jonathan said. "Good for you, now can we go Flynn?" Provenza said impatiently. "Hang on a second, Louie," Jonathan said to him. "He calls you Louie, too," Matthew whispered to Provenza as he grimaced. "Anyways, I think they are all connected with one another," Jonathan continued. "Shoplifting is hardly a major crime," Provenza said. "Yes, but I think this group is part of a bigger crime syndicate," Jonathan alluded. "Really? And why do you think that?" Andy asked him as he folded his arms in front of him.

Jonathan then led all three of them and the shopping cart to a back room where he had mapped out the list of what was attempted to be stolen and who did the shoplifting. "This is impressive work," Andy said as he looked over the board. "Thank you Lieutenant Flynn," Jonathan said. "Yeah, real impressive," Provenza said as he made his way towards the desk in the room. "It looks like all of the items that were attempted to be stolen were electronics, so what I would suggest, Dick, is that you contact our Robbery division and speak to someone there, I'm sure they would be willing to help you and your store out," Provenza said as he wrote down the number for Robbery and handed it to Jonathan. "Oh, I see how it is. You guys must be pretty busy then," Jonathan said disappointed.

Provenza shook his head. He was almost at the exit when Andy spoke up again. "Look, um, it's not that we are busy, it's just that Major Crimes doesn't handle simple shoplifting, that's all," Andy said to Jonathan and then started to exit the room with the cart and Matthew. "Well, it was nice running into you guys this morning! And you little fellow, it was nice meeting you. Your dad is one of the best detectives on the LAPD," Jonathan said as he made his way to Matthew and waved to them. "Dad, why can't you and Louie help him out? You always tell me that you help people," Matthew said as they were leaving the room and headed towards the store exit. "Well, you're right but, you see Matthew, our division doesn't handle that type of crime, but Louie here gave him the number to the department that can help him," Andy explained to Matthew as they exited the store and headed to the car and loaded the bags inside.

Andy hesitated and then pulled out his phone. "What are you doing, Flynn?" Provenza asked him as he got into the car. "I'm calling my buddy down in the Patrol division," Andy explained and Provenza rolled his eyes. "Hey, Richard, yeah Andy here. Hey, look, do you think you can send a patrol car over to the Target on Route 2 and Le Brea? Yeah, their head of security caught a shoplifter this morning. If you could help them out, I'd appreciate it," Andy explained over the phone. "Great, thanks!" Andy said as he hung up his phone. He turned to Provenza. "Patrol is sending someone over and we don't get in trouble for leaving the scene of a crime," he said to Provenza who was mumbling something.

Andy then got out of the car. "Stay with your Uncle, Matthew. I'll be right back," Andy said to Matthew as he headed back into the store. "Flynn! Flynn! I don't have time for this!" Provenza called out to him. "Don't be mad, Louie," Matthew said to him. "I'm not mad, Matthew. Just frustrated at your father, that's all," Provenza said. He turned around in the car. "Why don't you tell me about your trip today?" he said to Matthew.

Meanwhile, Andy approached Jonathan again. "Lieutenant, changed your mind?" he said as Andy approached him. "No, but I did help you. I called a buddy of mine and he is sending a patrol car here to your store, perhaps that can help you with this shoplifter here," Andy said as he pointed to the kid who got caught. "Thanks Lieutenant!" Jonathan said as he shook Andy's hand. Patrol did show up and after explaining what happened to the officer, Andy looked at Jonathan and pointed the officer in his direction. Jonathan waved to Andy as he was leaving the store.

Andy walked back to his car and opened his door to get inside. "Are you done trying to right the world?" Provenza grumbled. "You and I both know that if it was found out we were at the store when the commission of a crime was happening, Sharon would have us in her office yelling at why we left without providing assistance," Andy explained as he started the car.

Andy drove Provenza home after they left the store. "Matthew, I hope you have fun at Disneyland," Provenza said as Andy turned the car down his street. "Thank you," Matthew said. "Hopefully, we are able to enjoy our days off," Provenza said to Andy as he pulled the car into the driveway. "Yeah, hey do you think there's more to that shoplifting thing Dick Tracy, eh Jonathan, or whatever name he's going by, was talking about?" Andy asked Provenza and Provenza looked at him. "No, it's a simple shoplifting scheme, our good friends down in Patrol and Robbery can handle that," Provenza said as he shook his head. He then got out of the car and closed the car door, but leaned back in the window that was rolled down all the way. "Enjoy your trip, Flynn. Bye Matthew!" Provenza said as he waved and walked into his house.

Andy then drove them back home and Matthew helped him unload all the groceries from the car. As they were bringing in the grocery bags in to the kitchen, Sharon was there and greeted her boys. "There you guys are," she said as she helped grab the bags that Matthew was holding. Andy leaned over and gave her a kiss as she started to unpack the bags. "I was beginning to wonder what was taking you so long," she said to Andy as he placed the bags on the counter. "Well, you know, shopping with Provenza," Andy said to her and she chuckled at that comment.

"Daddy and Louie met an old friend at the store," Matthew said to Sharon. "Oh, really?" Sharon said as she turned around to look at Matthew and Andy. "Yeah," Andy said as he chuckled and gave Sharon his smile. "Who did you run into at the store?" Sharon asked Andy. "You're not going to believe this one," he said to her as he rubbed the back of his neck in nervous fashion. Sharon stood there and waited for him to tell her. "Dick Tracy," he said to her and her eyes went wide and her mouth went agape.

"What was he doing there?" Sharon asked as she continued to unpack the groceries. "Oh, well apparently he is in charge of their loss prevention department," Andy said to her as he placed the refrigerated items inside the refrigerator. "Wow, never thought I would hear his name again," Sharon said as she placed the empty plastic bags under the sink. "Yeah, apparently he's busted ten shoplifters this past week, all attempting to steal electronic equipment," Andy said as he leaned up against the counter and watched Sharon. "Hmm, interesting," she said to him as she moved about the kitchen. "Yeah, he wanted Provenza and me to investigate this, uh, shoplifting ring he busted," Andy continued to tell Sharon. "Shoplifting is hardly a major crime," Sharon said. "Yeah, well that's what Provenza told him," Andy said as he chuckled at the thought again.

Sharon looked at Andy and folded her arms across her chest. "What did you guys do?" she asked him with her questionable glare. Andy held up his hands in defense. "Provenza gave him the number to Robbery and we left," Andy pleaded as he saw Sharon's eyes get wide. "You left the scene of a crime?" she started to say but was interrupted by Andy. "Ah, technically, no. Let me finish," he said to her and she nodded. "I called my buddy down in Patrol and had him send a car out to the store. When they arrived I informed the officer what happened and directed him over to Dick Tracey, or Jonathan, whatever his name is," Andy explained to her as he looked at her.

"You're not mad, are you?" he asked as Sharon unpacked the items for their trip. "No, I'm glad at least you have finally learned that you shouldn't leave the scene of a crime without taking some sort of action," she said. "Did you buy Matthew a new swimsuit?" she asked as she looked through the bags. "Yes," he said as he pulled it out of one of the bags. "And you said Provenza gave him Robbery's phone number?" Sharon said as she stood in front of Andy and placed her arms around his waist. She pulled him down for a quick kiss. "Yes, so that way, we can enjoy the weekend and let them handle this," Andy said to her as he held her close.

"So, you need to pack still and I need to help Matthew pack his bag," Sharon said to Andy as they broke apart. "Where is Matthew, by the way?" she asked him and he shrugged his shoulders. "I hear the TV on in the family room," Andy answered her as they both made their way to the family room. Matthew was sitting on the couch watching TV and Moxie was sitting next to him. Andy turned to Sharon and whispered to her. "I'm going to head upstairs," and then went up the stairs to pack.

"Matthew, we need to get your bag packed for our trip," Sharon said to him, stepping in to the room. "Okay, can I finish watching this?" he asked her. Sharon looked at the TV and saw he was watching a Lego cartoon of Batman. "Sweetie, you've seen this a million times," Sharon said to him. "I know," Matthew smiled and they watched the cartoon together.

Andy had asked Matthew to distract his mom while he went upstairs so that he could get Sharon's Mother's Day present into his bag without her noticing. He went into his dresser drawer and took out the long jewelry box and placed it in his duffle bag. He then went to the closet and found his suit holder and placed the tuxedo he wore at their wedding inside. He placed both bags outside in the hallway. He then walked over to the stairs. "Come on Matthew, come up here and pack your bag, please!" he called out to Matthew.

Matthew heard his dad call out to him and he jumped up from the couch. "Okay, sorry mom but I need to pack my bag now," he told Sharon as she sat there, wondering what had just happened. She had just asked him to go upstairs to pack his bag and he told her that he wanted to watch this Batman cartoon and then when Andy calls out to him he does it right away, no protesting like when she asked him. "Something's up," she said out loud as she looked at Moxie who was still sitting by the couch.

She decided to follow them upstairs to find out what she could. Sharon made her way upstairs and passed Matthew's room. She glanced inside and saw Matthew packing his bag. She decided that she would check on him later because she really wanted to find out what Andy was up to. She saw two bags in the hallway, ready to go. She stepped inside their room. "Andy?" she called out to him.

Andy stepped out of their bathroom and found Sharon standing right there. "Yes?" he answered her. She wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Are you planning something?" she asked him. "Um, I told you a couple of nights ago what I was planning for tonight. That Nicole and Dean said that Matthew could spend the night with them in their room with the boys so that we could enjoy the evening," he said to her as he pulled her in for another kiss. "And that you should pack one of your evening gowns to wear, that's the only thing I can say for now," Andy said to her as he pulled away and walked over to his nightstand by their bed.

Sharon placed her hands on her hips and wondered what Andy had really planned for them this evening. It was obviously dinner somewhere at a fancy restaurant if he wanted her to bring an evening gown with her. He did tell her last Sunday that he wanted to treat her like a princess. Maybe their evening had something to do with that. She shook her head as she thought about it and then went into their closet to pick out the right dress to bring with for tonight.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you are liking this story so far. The next two chapters are going to be about Disneyland and their mini-vacation. Now, I know in real-life if you go to any of the Disney parks, you need to book dinner reservations and Fast Passes months in advance prior to your trip. However, for the purpose of this story, everyone was able to make and get their reservations within a decent amount of time. I personally have never been to Disneyland, only Disney World, but I assure you everything that is mentioned in this chapter and the next chapter is all at Disneyland in Anaheim. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Rusty was sitting on their couch watching TV when Sharon entered the family room. "We're getting ready to leave now," she said to him. "Okay," Rusty answered without turning his head from watching TV. Sharon walked over to him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked him. "I'm fine, Mom. Enjoy your time at Disney and I'll be okay here, I promise," Rusty said as he looked at her. She smiled. "Okay," she said to him as she leaned down and gave him a hug. She then looked at Moxie who was sitting next to Rusty. "Be a good boy for Rusty," she said to Moxie and then left the room.

Andy had come back in from packing the car. "Ready?" he said to her as she grabbed her purse and joined him. "Yes, I think I have everything," she told him as she looked around one last time. She then joined their hands and walked out of the house, Andy closing and locking the door behind them. "Rusty okay?" he asked her as they walked over to the car. Matthew was sitting in the backseat with the door opened, waiting for them. "Yes, I think so," she replied and then Andy held her door open for her to get in the car.

A couple of minutes later, they were on their way to Disneyland in Anaheim. As they headed down Interstate 5, Matthew was looking out his window at all the buildings of Downtown LA passing them by. "How long will it take us to get there?" he asked. "Less than an hour, sweetie," Sharon answered him as she looked at a magazine she had brought with. Traffic was moving along and it took them about forty minutes to arrive at Disneyland.

As Andy got off at the exit for Disneyland Park, Matthew was looking out his window and gazed at everything he saw. He was getting excited and couldn't wait to step foot in the parks. "I hope I get to see Goofy right away!" he said as Andy pulled the car up to where the hotel was located. They were staying at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa for the night. Sharon's phone alerted to a text message and she pulled it out. "Nicole and the rest of them are here. They already checked in," she said as she responded back to her.

Andy pulled up to the front of the hotel, as he was directed by one of the workers there. He got out and unloaded the bags from the car. "Do you need assistance with your bags?" one of the attendants asked Sharon as she stepped out of the car. "Sure, thank you," she said to him as he brought a cart over to them. "We're going to go inside, go park the car and meet us there," she told Andy as she walked with Matthew inside the hotel. Andy then got back in the car and pulled around to the parking lot of the hotel.

When Sharon and Matthew walked into the lobby of the hotel, Matthew was mesmerized by how big everything was. There were stone pillars inside the lobby and chairs and couches in the middle of the lobby area. "Matthew, stay close to me," Sharon said to him as they stood at the check-in counter. "I can check you in here," one of the workers named Sarah said to Sharon and they moved over to the counter. "What's the last name?" Sarah asked Sharon. "Flynn," she said as Matthew stood by her but the look on his face was priceless.

"Okay, we have you in room 1532, and looks like your other party is in room 1530," Sarah explained to Sharon and showed her where the room was on a map of the hotel. Andy walked into the lobby and found Sharon and Matthew still at the counter. He joined them and overheard the girl talking about the magic bands. "Here are your magic bands for your stay. They are your room key and also your pass into the two parks," she explained to them. Matthew placed his magic band on his right hand and was ready to get going.

"Mike will bring up your bags to your room with you. If you need anything else during your stay, feel free to let us know," Sarah told them. "Thank you," Sharon said to her and then they started to walk out towards the main area. "Uh, hang on a second. I'll be right back!" Andy said to Sharon and then made his way back to the counter to speak with Sarah. Sharon stood there and watched Andy. "What is your father up to?" she asked Matthew as they stood there. Matthew shrugged his shoulders as he still looked around the big lobby.

"Um, I just want to make sure that everything is set for tonight. The dinner reservations and the special thing I set up," Andy asked Sarah as he looked back towards Sharon. "Yes, everything is set, Mr. Flynn," Sarah told him. "Thank you!" Andy said and then rejoined Sharon and Matthew. "What's going on?" she asked him as he came back. "I just had a question about something, that's all," he said to her as they made their way to their room. Sharon shook her head as they entered the elevator.

"When can we go in the park?" Matthew asked them as they walked down the hallway to their room. "Let's get settled in first and see what the others are doing, okay?" Sharon said as she used her magic band to open the door. Mike brought their bags inside the room and Sharon gave him a tip as he left. "Thank you," she said as she closed the door. Andy was hanging up their clothes for tonight and Matthew was looking out the window of their room. Their room overlooked one of the pools there.

Sharon texted Nicole that they were in their room and what the plan was for the day. "What time are our dinner reservations tonight?" Sharon asked Andy as he was sitting at the desk in their room, looking at one of the many brochures that were there. "Dinner reservations?" he said to her, giving her an innocent look. "You already told me that we were going to dinner tonight, that's why I brought the dress I packed," she said to him, not buying this innocent look he gave her. "Ah, but you don't know where we're going," Andy said to her as she came closer to him.

"What time, so I can let Nicole know?" she asked him again as she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. "7:30," he replied. "Okay, they are getting ready to head into the park and will meet us outside in the hallway in ten minutes," Sharon informed them and Matthew was ready to go. "Matthew, you are going to join Colin and Avery for a sleepover tonight while I take Mommy out for dinner," Andy said to him. Matthew was excited about that as Sharon gathered her things. "Okay, everyone ready?" she asked them. "Yes," was the reply she got from both of them.

They met Nicole and everyone outside their rooms and headed down to the lobby of the hotel. "What's nice about staying at this hotel is you can walk right to the park," Nicole said to them as the three boys ran ahead in the lobby. They all made their way outside to the two parks entrance. "Let's go here first!" Colin said as he pointed on the map to Disneyland.

When they got into the park, Nicole and Dean walked ahead with the three boys and Sharon and Andy took their time walking down Main Street. They had about five hours before they needed to head back to the room to change for dinner tonight. Nicole turned around and saw her father holding Sharon's hand as they walked. She stopped and took a candid picture of them. "We are heading over to the Haunted Mansion, the boys want to go there first," she said to them. "Okay!" Sharon said and they followed everyone as they bypassed Sleeping Beauty's castle and headed over where the ride was located.

Sharon stopped and paused for a moment, looking at the castle as Andy stopped as well. He kissed her head and then they continued to walk and join the rest of their group. When they got to the ride, they all scanned their magic bands at the kiosk as Nicole had reserved a Fast Pass for everyone. "Matthew, are you sure you're going to be okay on this ride?" Sharon asked him. "Yes Mom," he said a little hesitant. "Can I sit with you and Daddy on it?" he asked quietly as he didn't want Colin or Avery to hear. Sharon nodded and held onto Matthew's shoulders as they waited in line, walking through the graveyard first.

Andy held onto Sharon's hand as they got inside the mansion. "Are you going to be okay on this ride?" she asked him. "Yes, I'll be fine," Andy said as they made their way into the room that was an elevator. Matthew was a little scared when the lights went off but then as the door opened and they walked over to where the ride started, he felt better.

At the end of the ride, Matthew was laughing as he saw one of the hitchhiking ghosts sitting on top of Andy's head as the ride was coming to a stop. They got off the ride and he held Andy's hand as they made their way back outside. "That was funny, Dad, when he was on top of your head," Matthew laughed. "Okay, where to next?" Sharon asked the group as they stood to the side.

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking from Adventureland to Tomorrowland, riding the rides in between looking and watching Matthew's reaction to the sights and sounds around them. They stood in line to get their picture taken with Chip and Dale. Matthew saw Goofy as well. The day was starting to wind down for them and around 5:30, everyone started to head back to the rooms.

"Matthew, why don't you get your things from your room and bring them over to ours, that way you'll have everything with you for your sleepover," Nicole said to Matthew as they walked down the hallway to their rooms. Sharon and Andy stopped outside their room and waited for Matthew to grab his bag. "Thank you again, Nicole," Sharon said to her as they stood out in the hallway. Nicole smiled. Matthew came out and gave Sharon and Andy a hug. "Behave," Andy told him. "Enjoy tonight!" Nicole said to Sharon and then walked over to their room with Matthew.

"Can you at least tell me where we are dining tonight?" Sharon said as she stepped into their room and unzipped the garment bag that held her dress. "In the park," Andy said to her as he sat on the bed. "Andy, there's no way I'm walking in the park with high heels on!" Sharon said to him. "So, wear your sandals then," Andy said as he laid back. Sharon threw a pillow at him. "Hey!" he said to her in protest. "My sandals don't match my dress," she explained to him. He got up from the bed and walked over to where she was standing. "You can bring your heels with you, just wear your sandals for walking there," he suggested to her. "Fine, but you're carrying them," she said as she took her dress out of the bag and went into the bathroom to get herself ready for the evening.

"Of course, dear," Andy whispered after she went into the bathroom. He was hoping the rest of the evening went smoother. While Sharon was in the bathroom, he took the opportunity to place the jewelry box he had brought with inside his suit jacket. He was going to give that to her tonight, in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle. He heard the shower still running and slowly opened the bathroom door. Sharon noticed him entering the bathroom. "Can I join you?" he asked her. She stepped to the side and Andy stripped his clothes off and stepped into the shower, and joined her.

As Sharon was putting the finishing touches to her outfit, Andy was standing in his shirt and pants, looking out the window. He had black suspenders on and a bow tie. Sharon walked over to him and placed her hands around his waist. He turned around and was immediately taken back by her appearance. "Wow!" he said to her, barely above a whisper and Sharon blushed. Andy then placed his suit jacket on, gently patted to feel that he had her necklace with him and then grabbed Sharon's shoes that were in a small bag. "Ready, my love?" he asked her as he held the door open and she nodded.

As they went through security to enter the park, Sharon didn't notice that Andy had slipped out the jewelry box when he emptied his pockets to go through. Her purse was being searched by the security guard and once they were done, they walked through to the entrance gates. They scanned their magic bands at the entrance. "Have a magical evening!" one of the greeters said to Sharon as they walked down Main Street again.

Andy held Sharon close to him as it was a little crowded there. "So, where are we going?" she asked him as they made their way down the street. Other visitors were looking at them as they walked. Sharon had to admit, it was a little odd to see someone so dressed up walking around Disneyland, but she didn't mind the little attention it brought them. She was enjoying the moment. "We are having dinner at Blue Bayou Restaurant, in New Orleans Square," Andy told her as he maneuvered their way over to the location.

"Hmm, interesting choice," she said to him as they walked through Frontierland to get to New Orleans Square. They came up to the restaurant and Andy gave the hostess the name on their reservation. "Right this way, please," she said to them as they were showed to their table. Sharon was handed her menu and sat down. Andy then sat down and looked over the menu as well. Their waiter came by and took their drink orders. Andy just had water but Sharon had ordered a glass of wine. When the waiter brought their drinks to them, they were ready to order. Andy ordered the pan-seared salmon and Sharon ordered the citrus chicken.

Sharon looked across the table at Andy and was overwhelmed by the evening so far. "Andy how were you able to get reservations when we didn't even know we were coming here a week ago?" she asked him as he held her hand. "Magic," he simply said to her and smiled. She started to get teary eyed so she looked away for a brief moment and then returned her gaze to him. They sat there and enjoyed the evening before their dinner came.

Meanwhile, Nicole, Dean, and the three boys made their way downstairs to the lobby where they went to the Storytellers Café for dinner. Matthew looked around the room as they walked inside the restaurant and noticed there were books everywhere and different sayings on the walls. The hostess showed them to their table and they all sat down. The boys all ordered the "make your own pizza kit" that was offered on the children's menu and had fun when it was brought out to them.

"What are we going to do after dinner?" Matthew asked Nicole. "Well, we thought you all would like to go down to the swimming pool for a little bit and then watch the fireworks from our room," Nicole said to him as they ate dinner. "I'd like to do that!" Matthew said as he ate his pizza. "Good," Nicole said as she looked over at Dean, who gave her a smile.

Meanwhile, after they ate their salads, Andy and Sharon were served their dinner and everything looked wonderful and tasted delicious. They tasted a little bit of each other's food and enjoyed talking to one another. The waiter stopped by and offered to bring them the dessert menu. Andy looked at Sharon who nodded that she wanted to look at the menu. The waiter brought out the key lime dessert that Sharon had ordered and she shared a little bit with Andy. They enjoyed the evening and there was a crowd gathering just outside the restaurant.

"I wonder why there are so many people over there?" Sharon asked Andy as she turned around to watch them. "It's for the Electrical Parade," Andy said to her and she turned back towards him. "I was told that these are the best seats to view the parade at night," he told Sharon as she placed her other hand on top of the one that was holding her hand. "Andy," she said as she was overwhelmed by the evening and everything he had planned for them to enjoy.

The parade started and Andy and Sharon watched from their seats at the restaurant. "Did I ever tell you this was Emily's favorite parade when she was a kid?" Sharon said to Andy as they watched the lights roll by them. "You mentioned it a couple of times," he whispered in her ear, which sent a shiver down Sharon's back. Andy saw the goosebumps form and helped place Sharon's shawl around her shoulders.

"Is it over?" she asked him as she sat up some more. "Just wait," he told her and then the fireworks show started over the castle. Sharon shook her head. 'Andy must have been planning this for a while now' she thought to herself as Andy placed his arm around her while they watched the show.

When the parade and fireworks were over, the crowds of people dispersed and headed for the exit of the park. Andy paid the bill at the restaurant and Sharon waited for him to be all set. "Ready to head back?" she asked him as they made their way out of the restaurant. Andy looked around at where they were, and remembered there was a short cut to Sleeping Beauty's castle ahead of them to the right. "Yes, let's go this way," he suggested to her as he held onto her hand and led her the way he pointed to. Sharon noticed that the rest of the crowd was headed in one direction but they were headed in another. "Andy, are you sure you know your way around here?" she asked him, not noticing that they were right by the castle. "Trust me," he smiled to her.

They stopped right outside the castle by the water. Sharon was taken back at the fact that they were standing in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, and it was just the two of them. She looked up at the castle and then at Andy. "When I was a little girl, my mom used to read me the story of Sleeping Beauty every night for a month. I never got tired of hearing that story," she told him as he held her hands and watched her. Andy looked around and saw a carriage being pulled up and some cast members waiting for them.

Sharon was caught up in the moment between them, she didn't notice anything else. Andy let go of her hand and reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out the long jewelry box. "Sharon," he said to her and she looked at him as he held out the box for her to take. "Andy," she whispered as she looked at the box and then saw the carriage waiting in the distant. It was then that she realized just what Andy had planned for their evening. She was speechless as Andy spoke to her.

"Sharon, even though we have a combined family between our children from previous marriages, I have always thought that you being a mom was one of the most precious joys you have achieved. Since we adopted Matthew together, you have showed me every day just how much you are an amazing mother to him, and the rest of the children," Andy said and paused for a second. Sharon had tears in her eyes as she listened to him. "I love you with all of my heart, each and every day, and I am so thankful that we are together on this journey," he said as he opened the jewelry box.

Sharon looked at the beautiful necklace that was laying inside the box and saw that there were four birthstones hanging from the necklace. They were the birthstones of Emily, Ricky, Rusty, and now Matthew. Sharon placed her hand in front of her mouth to catch the sob that tried to escape. "Oh Andy!" she whispered. "It's beautiful!" she added as she fingered the necklace. She let him place the necklace around her neck and then she pulled him in for a kiss. One of Disney's photographers snapped a quick picture of them.

When they broke apart, she looked into his eyes. "You arranged all this for me?" she asked him as she took a look around at everything. "I'm full of surprises!" he grinned at her and she smiled back at him. "Your carriage awaits you, my lady," Andy said to her as he bowed. She graciously took his hand and he walked her down to where the carriage was located. He helped her inside and sat down next to her. "Thank you," Andy said to one of the cast members who closed the door to the carriage.

The horse drawn carriage took them from the castle down Main Street. Sharon snuggled into Andy's side as they enjoyed the ride. "Andy, how much did this evening cost you?" she asked him as the rode down Main Street. Andy shook his head. "Don't worry about it, besides I told you I wanted to treat you like a princess," he told her as he held her close to him. Of course she worried about the cost, she knew that something like this wasn't your everyday experience here at Disneyland.

Andy knew exactly how much this evening cost, but he didn't care at the moment. He wanted to show Sharon how much he loved her, how much he wanted to be with her, and how grateful he was that they were raising Matthew together, even though he wasn't their own flesh and blood. "Did you ever wish that we had, you know, a family together, I mean if the circumstances were different in our early lives," Sharon asked him as the carriage came to a slow down.

Andy scratched the back of his head and sighed. "If our situations back then were different, yeah, I wondered what it would have been like to have a child, or children, with you," he said quietly to her. "Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for my children and for your children, and for Matthew, but still, it would have been nice," he added as the cast member opened the carriage door. "This is our stop," Andy said, quickly giving Sharon a kiss and then stepped out of the carriage.

He held his hand out for Sharon to take as she exited the carriage. They both thanked the cast members and started walking to the exit of the park. They walked hand in hand as the exited the park and found their way back to their hotel. Andy was carrying Sharon's heels for her once again as she changed into her sandals. "So, you really are full of surprises aren't you?" she said teasing him as they walked. "Well, you see there's this girl I really like and I was hoping to impress her tonight," Andy said as he held the door open for her. "Oh? I'd say you did a good job on that," Sharon said as they walked into the hotel.

"Do the children know about tonight?" she asked him as they waited for the elevator. "Yes," he simply said as the elevator doors opened. Sharon played with her necklace as they rode up to their floor. Andy quickly glanced down at her and smiled. She looked up at him and smiled back. He leaned down and kissed her. She enveloped her arms around him and pulled her closer, which in turn, backed her right up against the wall of the elevator. The elevator dinged when it stopped at their floor and they broke their kiss.

"I wonder if they're still up?" Sharon asked him as they walked down the hallway. "It's late, I'm sure they are sleeping," Andy said as he opened their room door. Sharon hesitated but Andy took her hand and she followed him inside. "Matthew is fine, trust me," he whispered to her as the door closed behind them and he kissed her passionately. She untied his bow tie and removed his suit jacket as they maneuvered themselves through their room. He unzipped her dress and slowly moved the straps down her arms, careful not to destroy the dress. They continued to undress each other until they reached the bed and Andy gently laid Sharon down on top of him. "I love you," he said to her as they continued passionately kissing each other during the night.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 3

Sharon began to stir awake the next morning and slowly opened her eyes. She saw the sun starting to creep through their room and then noticed that she was sleeping half on Andy's chest and half on the rest of the bed. Andy must have been awake already because she could feel his fingers gently rubbing her back up and down. She smiled into his chest and placed a kiss there. She then moved her head to get a better look at him. He met her eyes and smiled. "Good morning my princess," he said to her in a groggy voice. Sharon hummed. "Good morning, my knight in shining armor," she teased him.

Sharon then moved off of the bed and wrapped a blanket around her body as she made her way into the bathroom. Andy admired the view that he had as he watched her retreat. He then took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over his face. He sat up in bed, and placed his pajama pants back on. He then walked over to the window and waited for Sharon to be done in the bathroom. When she came out, she was wearing one of his Dodgers shirts, that she liked so much, and a pair of her shorts. He turned around when he heard the bathroom door open and enveloped her in a hug.

"Happy Mother's Day!" he whispered to her and then gave her a kiss. "Thank you," she whispered back to him as he held her close. After a couple of minutes, he made his way to the bathroom and Sharon sat down on one of the oversized chairs as she pulled out her phone. No messages from her kids but it was early in the morning.

Meanwhile, Matthew woke up in the fort that he and the boys had made last night in their room. He was surprised it was still up because usually, the forts that he made in his room at home, don't stay up all night long. He rolled over as he held a stuffed Goofy doll and saw that the sun was starting to peak through the window. "I wonder if they're up?" he said to himself as he got out of the fort without waking Colin or Avery up. He walked over to where Nicole and Dean were sleeping and gently poked Nicole on her shoulder.

"Nicole?" he whispered and she woke up. "Oh, Matthew. What time is it?" she asked him, still groggy from her sleep. "It's 6:45, I'm going to go back to Mommy and Daddy's room now," he said to her as he held his stuffed Goofy and Teddy Bear. "Okay, do you want me to walk you over there?" she asked him as she started to get out of bed. "I'll be okay," he said to here, making sure he had his magic band to get into the room. Nicole nodded and then watched Matthew as he went into the hallway and to the room right next door. He opened the door and Nicole then closed their door and went back to sleep.

Sharon heard their door unlock and open. She looked over at the room door and saw Matthew walk in with his Teddy bear and new Goofy doll in tow. "You're up!" Matthew said in a loud whisper as he was happy to see her. He ran over to her and gave her a big hug. "Happy Mother's Day!" he said to her as he pulled back. "Oh, thank you sweetheart!" she said to him.

Matthew then ran over to where his duffle bag was located and went through it, looking for something that he brought with. Andy came out of the bathroom and saw that Matthew was back in their room. Matthew found the piece of paper and the small gift that he wanted to give her and then walked over to where Sharon was still sitting and handed her the items.

"What's this for?" Sharon asked him as she looked over the small box. "It's for you. Daddy helped me pick it out," Matthew said. "Oh he did?" Sharon said in a surprised tone as she glanced over at Andy who was watching the whole thing. Andy just shrugged his shoulders as Sharon opened the small box. Inside the box was a small charm for her Pandora bracelet. Andy had gotten her one this past Christmas and Matthew wanted to get Sharon something special.

Sharon took it out of the box and looked at the charm. It was silver and in the shape of a heart. On the heart was the word 'Mom' on it with inter-connected hearts surrounding the word. "Oh, Matthew, it's perfect," Sharon said to him as she placed it back in the box and gave Matthew a hug. She then looked up at Andy who was still leaning against the door frame separating the two rooms. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"What does the piece of paper say?" she asked Matthew as she pulled away from the hug. He showed it to her. "We drew that at school on Monday, before I got stung by that bee," Matthew said and Sharon laughed. "Thank you so much, sweetie," she said to him. "Why don't you get dressed now. We are going to meet everyone downstairs for breakfast in an hour," Andy said as he glanced at his watch.

Matthew went over to his duffel bag and picked out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts to wear. "You and I are going to have a talk when we get home," Sharon said as she stood up and met Andy half way in the room. "Me? What for?" Andy asked, innocently. "You are spending way too much money on me, Andy. Now we have discussed this before, I don't need all of the glamor or the fanfare," Sharon started to say but Andy stopped her as he placed a finger against her mouth. "I love you, the kids love you, and we appreciate you. This has nothing to do with money and everything to do with you, Sharon, and the type of person you are. If I could, I would celebrate you and who you are every day, but I think you would get tired of me sooner rather than later if I did that," Andy explained to her as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

Matthew came out of the bathroom quickly and dressed. "Did you go swimming last night with the boys?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, my swimsuit is next door hanging up," Matthew answered her as he moved through the room and over to the other chair. "Did you take a shower last night, to wash all of the chlorine off of you?" she asked him. "Yes, Nicole made me take one before we started to play," Matthew explained.

"Go get ready, Sharon," Andy said to her as he sat down on the chair across from Matthew. She ran her hand down his face and then turned around and walked over to where her clothes were and chose an outfit to wear today. "So, did you and Mommy have a good time last night?" Matthew asked him. "Yes, we had a great time last night. How about you?" Andy asked him. "We had a fun time. The pool was a lot of fun. We made our own pizzas for dinner, which was fun too," Matthew explained and told Andy all about his night last night with Colin and Avery.

Andy sat there and smiled as he listened to Matthew explain how they had built the fort in the room and that when he woke up this morning, it was still intact. "I think Moxie might knock the one's I build down during the night," he explained and Andy agreed. Sharon came out of the bathroom dressed wearing a Mickey Mouse top and a pair of Capri pants. She was finishing up her hair and make-up when Andy walked by her. He grabbed his Hawaiian shirt and a pair of shorts and then went into the bathroom to get himself ready.

They met everyone downstairs in the lobby. When Sharon greeted Nicole that morning, she saw the necklace her dad had bought for Sharon. "Oh, he did give you the necklace!" she said to Sharon. Sharon lightly touched the necklace and nodded "Yes". "How did you know about it?" Sharon asked Nicole as they walked over to the restaurant inside the hotel. "Oh, I took Dad shopping one morning after his physical therapy. He called me up and wanted to know my opinion on something that he was thinking about buying you for Mother's Day," Nicole explained to her.

Sharon glanced over at Andy and then nodded to Nicole. She then saw the earrings that Nicole was wearing. "Are those new?" she asked as she pointed to the earrings. "Yes, my boys gave them to me this morning," Nicole said as she showed them to Sharon. The boys were ahead of them and Dean and Andy were walking behind. "Grandpa! Grandpa! Look!" both Avery and Colin said to Andy as they approached the restaurant. Inside there was Chip and Dale visiting the different tables, along with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. "I see them!" Andy replied as they approached the hostess.

"Name?" the hostess asked Andy. "Flynn, party of seven," Andy responded as Sharon and Nicole caught up with them. Sharon wrapped her arm around Andy as they waited to be seated while the boys watched the different characters walk around the restaurant. "Mom!" Matthew whispered to Sharon and then pointed towards Goofy who was wearing a chef's hat. "I see!" Sharon said and smiled at Matthew and gave him a thumbs up.

A couple of minutes later, they were sitting at a table and the waitress was explaining the buffet to them. They ate breakfast and the characters came to visit them and took pictures with all three boys. Matthew especially wanted a picture with Goofy and when he came to the table, Matthew was speechless. He waved to Goofy and Goofy waved back and then gave him a hug. Sharon took a picture of the two and showed Matthew as soon as Goofy left.

"Who would have thought his favorite character would be Goofy?" Andy said to Sharon as they left the restaurant and headed outside to the California Adventure Park portion of the resort. As they entered that park, the boys wanted to head over to the Cars land and everyone followed them. When they got to the Radiator Springs Racers, Colin and Avery wanted to ride the cars, so Nicole and Dean took them. "Matthew, do you want to ride the race cars as well?" Andy asked him as he was indecisive. "Yes!" Matthew said and then pulled Andy with him to get in line.

Sharon waited by the side. "I'll watch all of you on the ride," she said to them. "Are you sure?" Andy asked her and she nodded. By the time it was their turn to go, they had been waiting for about twenty minutes in line. Sharon had found an area where she could stand and watch them ride in the race cars around the track. She waved to Matthew and Andy as they drove around and then also to Nicole, Dean, and both boys.

"Are you here with your family?" a woman asked her as she was waiting on the side as well. "Yes, my husband and son, plus my step daughter and her husband and two boys," Sharon explained. "How about you?" she asked the woman as she waited for them to be done. "Oh, yes. I'm here with my daughter, her husband, and their four kids," the woman said to Sharon. "Well, I hope you have a lovely time today," Sharon told the woman. "And have a Happy Mother's Day as well," she added and then saw Andy and Matthew walking towards her. "You too!" the woman said to Sharon.

"Did you have fun driving in the car?" Sharon asked Matthew as she joined them. "I did!" Matthew answered her. "So, where are we going next?" Sharon asked the group as they looked at the map that Nicole had picked up at the front gate. "How about we head to Paradise Pier, there's a lot of stuff to do over in that area," Nicole said to them and then they headed that way.

Nicole and Dean walked ahead of Sharon and Andy, as Colin and Avery ran ahead of them. Matthew stayed back and held Andy's hand as they walked over to the new area. When they got to Paradise Pier, Matthew saw the big Ferris wheel with the picture of Mickey Mouse on it and he wanted to go on that ride. Andy's phone rang just at that moment and when he pulled it out of his pocket, he saw it was Provenza calling him. "Ugh, are you serious?" he said out loud as Sharon looked at him. Andy answered his phone.

"This better be good," he gritted his teeth as he spoke into his phone. "Sorry to bother your time with the family, Flynn, but we got a situation here," Provenza told him over the phone. "What type of situation?" Andy asked him as he moved away from the rest of the group. "Moxie got out of the yard," Provenza explained to him. "What?" Andy said as he looked back at Sharon. "Rusty let him out in the yard this morning and when he came back to sit out there, he noticed that the gate was open and the dog wasn't in the yard," Provenza said. "Why didn't Rusty call me?" he asked him. "Because he is currently out looking for the dog, I am too for that matter," Provenza explained.

"Well, check the neighbors yards. There's this house down the block that has another dog, sometimes he likes to visit her when we go for a walk," Andy said trying to stay calm, especially for Matthew. Sharon gave him a look but he waved her off. "Hang on a second Flynn," Provenza said as he switched over to another call. "Great, what are we going to tell Matthew if they can't find him?" he muttered to himself. All of a sudden Provenza came back on the phone.

"Flynn?" he said. "Yeah, go ahead," Andy said back to him. "That was Rusty, he found Moxie. Apparently he had gone down to the other house you were talking about and the neighbor found him sitting in her yard with her dog, everything is fine now," Provenza said. "Do me a favor, have Rusty call me when he gets him back to the house," Andy said to Provenza. "Will do," Provenza said and then he hung up. Andy let out a huge breath and then made his way back over to where he had left the rest of them.

Sharon had a concerned look on her face. "What is it? Is everything okay?" Sharon asked him as she ran a hand up his arm. "Something happened with Moxie, but everything is fine now. I'm just waiting on a call from Rusty," Andy told her quietly and squeezed her hand lightly to reassure her. Her face went from happy to panic when he mentioned that something happened to Moxie. She looked to see where Matthew was and he was occupied with his cousins at the moment. "Okay," she said to him and trusted that everything that Andy had told her was indeed fine. Turning to the group, she didn't want to seem unfazed. "So, let's go on some rides, shall we?!" she said and they spent the rest of the day at the park.

Rusty did call Andy, not too long after Provenza had hung up from him. "Hey Andy, don't worry, everything is okay now. Moxie is back home and inside the house," Rusty said to him. "Sorry, about that," he added. "Just glad he's back at the house, How'd he get out?," Andy said as he sat on a bench and waited for one of the rides to be over with. "I'm not sure," Rusty said as he looked at the dog lying in the kitchen as he spoke. "Well, we should be home later tonight," Andy said as he watched people walk past him.

"Did you call your Mom and wish her a Happy Mother's Day today?" Andy asked him as he saw Sharon and Matthew walking towards him. "Yes, I texted it to her this morning," Rusty explained. "Did Ricky and Emily do so as well?" he asked him. "Um, I think so but I'm not sure, hey look, I'm gonna get going, but I wanted to let you know that everything is okay now," Rusty said to Andy. "Yeah, oh and Rusty, next time, call me as soon as something happens, okay?" Andy said into the phone and they both hung up.

Andy smiled at Sharon as she sat down next to him on the bench. "Everything okay?" she asked him again. Andy looked around to make sure Matthew wasn't in earshot of him before he informed Sharon about what had happened. "Moxie is back in the house, not even fazed by leaving," Andy reassured her. "How'd he get out of the yard?" she asked him but then noticed Matthew coming back with Avery and Colin. Nicole and Dean were not too far behind them.

They stood up and all of them headed over to the Cozy Cone Motel for a quick bite to eat. "Did you hear from the rest of your children today?" Andy asked Sharon as they walked over to the area where the restaurant was located. "Yes, all three of them texted me this morning and wished me a Happy Mother's Day," Sharon said as they walked through the different areas in the park. "Good," Andy said as he placed his arm around her and continued walking.

The day was winding down and their time at the park was coming to a close. "Nicole, Dean, we had a wonderful time here, thank you for celebrating with us," Sharon said to Nicole. "Oh, no problem, we had a fun time, as you can tell," Nicole said as she pointed at all of the boys sitting on the bench by the hotel, including Dean and Andy, who were sitting with them. Andy had his hat over his eyes as he looked to be taking a nap. Dean was looking down at his phone. Colin and Avery were leaning up against Dean on either side of him and Matthew had his Goofy hat on and was curled into Andy's side.

Sharon chuckled at the site before her and Nicole and quickly snapped a picture of them sitting there. Sharon then walked over to Andy and gently nudged him in his right shoulder. Andy woke up and looked at Sharon. "Are you ready to head back home now?" she asked him and Andy carefully stood up and made sure that Matthew didn't fall when he did so. "Yes, I'll just go tell the Bell Services that we are ready for our bags and bring the car around," Andy said to Sharon and then walked away.

"Dean, honey? I think we should start heading back home as well," Nicole said to Dean who carefully got up from the bench and maneuvered the boys so that didn't fall either when he stood up. Dean saw Andy speaking to the Bell Services person and joined him to go retrieve their cars.

When both cars pulled up, Andy got out and help the Bell Service guy place the bags into the back section of the car. He didn't realize just how many items Sharon had purchased at the store inside the hotel and at other venues throughout the park. "How much shopping did you do exactly?" he asked her. "Well, what can I say? Disney is a magical place," Sharon said to him as he packed the car and tipped the Bell Service guy.

Matthew climbed into the backseat of the car and put his seatbelt on. "Thanks again!" Sharon said to Nicole as she gave her a hug. Andy walked over to the other car and stuck his head inside the back section and said good bye to Colin and Avery. "Bye Grandpa!" they said to him. Sharon did the same. "Bye Grandma!" they said. "You boys behave yourselves," Sharon told them both. "We will," they said. After saying their good byes to each other, they got in their cars and headed in the direction of Los Angeles.

Matthew was sleeping by the time they had hit the Interstate to head back North. Sharon held Andy's right hand as he drove them back home. "I had a lovely time this weekend," she said to him as she glanced occasionally between him and the scenery out her window. "I'm glad you did sweetheart," Andy said to her as he continued to drive. "I had a pretty nice time as well," he added as he changed lanes on the highway. They continued North on the Interstate and forty minutes later, they were back in the City of Angels.

Andy pulled into the driveway of their house and turned the car off. Sharon opened Matthew's door and Matthew got out, still holding his Goofy stuffed animal and wearing his Goofy baseball hat. "Come on sweetie, go in the house, and I want you to go straight upstairs and get ready for bed," Sharon told him as she walked with him towards the house. Andy unloaded the car and brought in some of the bags. He met Rusty on the path from the house to the garage. "There's more bags in the car, if you could bring them in for me," he said to Rusty. "Sure," Rusty said as he passed him.

Moxie greeted Sharon and Matthew as the entered the kitchen. Moxie licked Matthew's face and he giggled. "Come on Moxie, let's go upstairs," Matthew said to the dog and he followed him upstairs to his room. Sharon turned around and helped Andy with one of the bags he was carrying. "I think we are bringing back more stuff than we left with!" Andy said to her as he brought the suitcases in the kitchen. Rusty brought in the last of the bags and closed the back door behind him. He made his way into the kitchen to join his Mom and Andy.

"So, tell me what happened this morning?" Sharon asked Rusty as they all stood there. "Well, I went to go let Moxie out into the yard this morning and then I came back inside to get his food ready. When I went back outside, he wasn't in the yard," Rusty started to explain as Andy and Sharon listened. "So, I went to the front of the house and I couldn't see him anywhere. I pulled out my phone and dialed the first person I thought could help me," Rusty said. "Provenza?" Andy chimed in. "Yes, the Lieutenant answered his phone and was in the car, like right away, and headed over here with Patrice," Rusty said and both Sharon and Andy sighed.

"Anyway, when the Lieutenant called you, I was just down the block and the neighbor, Mrs. Jenkins called out to me and said Moxie was in her yard with her dog, Daisy. Then I went in her yard and put Moxie's leash on him, thanked Mrs. Jenkins, and walked him back home," Rusty ended the story as he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. Sharon walked over to him. "Well, it's a good ending to the story. I'm grateful that it did end so well," Sharon said as she shook her head at the other thoughts that ran through her mind.

"Well, if you'll excuse me I think I will retreat to my place and call it a night," Rusty said as he stood up and hugged Sharon. "I hope you had a good Mother's Day," he said to her as she hugged him back. "I did," she said to him. "The card on the counter is for you," Rusty pointed to the card and then headed out. "Good night!" he said and then closed the back door behind him.

Sharon walked over to the counter and opened the card that Rusty had left. She smiled as she read it and Andy wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the side of her neck and placed his head on her shoulder. Sharon then placed the card back on the counter and turned in Andy's arms. "I wonder why the gate was open this morning?" she said to him as she gave him a quick kiss. "I don't know," Andy said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, let's go to bed," she said to him as she patted his arms and then made her way towards the stairs to head up. Andy locked up for the night and joined her.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 4

Matthew woke up early Monday morning to Moxie growling at something out the window. "Moxie!" he whispered to the dog but Moxie was adamant about something being outside. Moxie kept growling and then started to bark. Andy woke up from his sleep when he heard Moxie barking. Sharon was sleeping on his chest and their legs were entwined. "Sharon?" he whispered as he tried to gently move her so that he could get up. "Hmm?" she said, still in a sleepy voice. "Moxie is barking, a lot, I'm going to go see what's going on. I'll be right back," he told her as she shifted to her side of the bed and sat up.

Andy turned on the lamp on the night stand and got out of bed. He started to walk towards the door to the hallway when he stopped and grabbed the baseball bat that was in the corner of the room. He didn't want to grab his gun from the closet in case it was nothing, no reason to scare Matthew. He made his was down the hallway to Matthew's room. Moxie was still barking and Andy opened the door. He saw Matthew was up and the lamp on his night stand was on. "Daddy, Moxie won't stop barking," Matthew said as Andy entered the room.

"It's okay," he told Matthew as he moved closer to where Moxie was standing in front of the window. "Moxie!" Andy said to the dog in a firm voice and Moxie turned around to look at him. He was wagging his tail and kept looking between Andy and the window, like he was trying to tell Andy something. Andy moved to the window and peeked outside. "What is it, Moxie?" he asked the dog, not expecting him to answer as he looked around the area from what he could see through the window.

"I don't see anything out there," Andy said as he moved away from the window and Moxie seemed to calmed down after Andy had entered the room. "Why are you carrying a baseball bat?" Matthew was curious. "Just in case something happened and I needed it," Andy replied to him and sat on the edge of his bed. Moxie walked up to Andy and sat down in front of him. Andy petted the dog. "What did you see out there, huh?" he said to Moxie. A couple of minutes passed and Andy sighed.

"Okay, I think it's time we get back to bed," Andy said as he stood up but Matthew grabbed his arm. "Could I sleep in your room?" he asked Andy. Andy looked at him and sat back down on the bed. "What's wrong, buddy?" Andy asked him. "I'm scared," Matthew said to him. Andy nodded and stood up again. "Come on," Andy said to him and held out his arm. Matthew climbed out of bed and brought his Goofy stuffed animal with him. Moxie followed them across the hall into Sharon and Andy's room.

Sharon was sitting up in bed when the three of them entered the room. Matthew walked in and Moxie followed him as Andy closed the door behind them. "What happened?" Sharon asked them. "Moxie was barking at something out there but I didn't see anything," Andy said to her as he shrugged his shoulders. "It could have been anything, a car, an animal, I mean who knows?" he added as he placed the baseball bat back where it was.

Meanwhile, Matthew climbed into their bed and settled down in the middle. "Matthew asked to sleep in here with us cause he's scared," Andy explained and Sharon understood. He snuggled up to where Sharon was and he was still holding Goofy. "You're okay, sweetie," she said as she placed her arm around Matthew as she tried to get comfortable. Moxie jumped on the bed and laid at the middle end. Andy shook his head and climbed back into bed. He looked at Sharon and smiled. She smiled back at him.

"Good night," Andy said to her and then moved the covers over him and Matthew. "Good night," Sharon told him as she started to relax and closed her eyes. As Andy laid there on his back, and looked up at the ceiling, he thought he heard another noise outside. He looked up and glanced over at Moxie who was still sleeping and then glanced at Sharon and Matthew who were sleeping as well. He shook his head and thought maybe he was imagining the noise.

The next morning, Andy woke up to Matthew's hand on his face. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Matthew sprawled out on their bed, in between Sharon and him. He gently moved Matthew's arm off of his face and brought it to Matthew's side while at the same time, he was scooting off the bed. As he stood up he saw that Sharon was still sleeping on her side. He walked over to the other side of the bed and leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Morning," he whispered to her. Sharon turned over and stretched. "Morning," she said to him. "Did you ever find out why Moxie was barking this morning?" she asked him as she started to get out of bed. She noticed that Matthew was still sleeping in the middle and she carefully tried to not wake him up. Andy was standing by the dresser, picking out a change of clothes, as he turned to her. "No, I didn't, when we went back to sleep, I thought I heard another noise outside but it must have been nothing," Andy explained as he made his way towards the bathroom.

Sharon followed him there and gave him a proper good morning kiss. "Good morning again," he said in a husky voice. Sharon smiled and left him in the bathroom while she went into their closet to find an outfit to wear to work. Andy was showering when he heard the bathroom door open again. Sharon then opened the glass shower door and stepped inside, joining Andy for a minute before Andy stepped out so that Sharon could enjoy the shower. He wrapped a towel around himself and got ready for the day.

As Sharon was getting dressed, Andy walked over to their bed to wake Matthew up. "Hey buddy? Time to get up!" Andy said as he pulled the covers off of him. Matthew immediately pulled his legs to his stomach and started to laugh. "Oh I see! You were pretending to still be asleep!" Andy said as he started to tickle the boy. Matthew started laughing again. "Alright, let's get going and get you ready for school," Andy said to him as Matthew got out of their bed.

Matthew went back to his room to get his clothes for school and then he went to get ready. Andy then took Moxie downstairs and put his leash on to take him outside. Andy and Moxie went out the back door and Moxie did his business in the backyard. Andy had a look around, but didn't see anything out of place. "Come on Moxie. Let's check the front out," he said to the dog as they walked down the driveway to the front of the house. Andy looked around and Moxie sniffed everywhere but he didn't see anything wrong either. "Alright, let's go," he said and then turned around with Moxie and headed back into the house.

Sharon was still upstairs getting ready while Andy fed Moxie. Matthew came downstairs and found Andy in the mud room. "Are you all ready for breakfast?" he asked Matthew. "Can I have oatmeal?" Matthew asked him as they stood there. "Sure, I think we have some," Andy said as he made his way back into the kitchen and went to the pantry to look for oatmeal. Matthew stood by him and waited. "Yep, here's some," Andy said as he pulled out the container of oatmeal.

He then poured some oatmeal in a bowl and added water to it. Andy then placed it in the microwave and 2 minutes later, Matthew was eating his bowl of oatmeal at the kitchen table. Sharon then came downstairs and joined them in the kitchen. "What would you like to have for breakfast?" Andy asked Sharon as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. "Um, toast and some fruit is fine with me," she answered him as she made her way to the kitchen table and sat down next to Matthew.

"You sure this is going to be enough?" Andy asked her as he placed the plate with the toast and a bowl of fresh fruit on the table. "It is," Sharon said and smiled at him. Andy then went back to the pantry and pulled out a box of cereal for him. He then joined the two of them at the table and ate breakfast.

After dropping off both Matthew at school and Moxie at doggie day care, Sharon and Andy made their way towards the elevators in the parking garage of the PAB. "Hopefully we have an easy day today, gets us back into the start of the week," Andy said to Sharon as they stepped on the elevator. "Yes, hopefully Robbery/Homicide was able to help your friend out this weekend," Sharon said to him as she leaned into his side. "I totally forgot about that," Andy said with a chuckle and shook his head as the elevator came to a stop on the ninth floor.

The two of them stepped out and start walking towards the office when they hear a commotion coming from inside the room. Sharon and Andy both looked at each other and then Andy opened the door. Sharon walked through first, followed by Andy, and they moved to the inside of the room where the talking was getting louder.

Inside the office, Sharon saw Provenza, Mike, and Julio talking with Detective Williamson and Captain Hayes from Robbery/Homicide. "Gentlemen! What is going on here?" Sharon spoke over the talking. Everyone got quiet except for Provenza. "Well, you see here, Commander, our friends down at Robbery/Homicide have decided to give us the shoplifting crimes that have occurred at Dick Tracey's store," Provenza explained to Sharon. Sharon gave him and everyone else a look. "My office, now!" she said in a stern voice as Provenza, Andy, Williamson, and Captain Hayes all joined her in her office.

Andy closed the door and stood next to Provenza as Sharon spoke to Williamson and Captain Hayes. "So, why is the Robbery/Homicide division giving Major Crimes, shoplifting crimes to solve, because clearly I missed what your division does, Captain," Sharon addressed Captain Hayes. A small chuckle came out of Provenza and Andy as they stood in her office. Sharon heard it and immediately glanced over at the two of them. Both Provenza and Andy started to clear their throats and stood there looking on at the scene.

"With all due respect, Commander Flynn, this request is not coming from Robbery/Homicide," Captain Hayes stated to Sharon. "Oh really? Where is it coming from then?" Sharon asked them. "Chief of Police Pope," Captain Hayes stated. Both Provenza and Andy looked at each other and then glanced at Sharon who was standing behind her desk now. "Wait just a minute here, why would Chief of Police Pope, give Major Crimes this shoplifting case?" Provenza asked them. "Don't know Lieutenant. He said something about you guys knowing the person who was involved in the capturing of these shoplifters and said as a courtesy to him, you guys would handle it," Captain Hayes stated and then turned to look at Sharon.

Sharon stood there with her arms crossed. "Fine, you can give us all the information that you have gathered on this particular case and we will take a look at it," she said and as she was finished speaking she glanced over at Provenza and Andy. "Thank you Commander. We brought everything with us," Captain Hayes said. "They left the files on Julio's desk," Provenza explained and then they started to head out of her office behind Captain Hayes and Williamson. "Lieutenants, a word please?" Sharon stated.

Andy's head looked to the ground as he knew somehow, he and Provenza were going to get blamed for this. Captain Hayes and Williamson walked out of her office and closed the door. Provenza and Andy stood in front of her desk, and faced Sharon. "Now before you protest, let's just take a look at things regarding this while I have a meeting with Chief Pope to find out the exact reason why we are being handed this case," Sharon said to Provenza and Andy.

Andy and Provenza left Sharon's office without saying a word and walked over to where Julio, Mike, and now Amy where looking over the files. "I swear to you Flynn, if this is one of Dick Tracey's pranks about getting us to investigate something for him, I'm never going shopping with you again!" Provenza said to him as he walked to his desk and sat down. "Me? Why is it my fault all of a sudden?" Andy responded as he picked up a file and started to read through it.

"Because you had to walk over to him at the store," Provenza said as he rolled his eyes. "Oh geeze!" Andy stated as he shook his head and watched Provenza. "Really? I didn't know it was him. I saw someone yelling at a kid and I thought perhaps they needed our help," Andy stated as he blocked out the stares from the rest of the team. "I told you not to go over there!" Provenza said as he stood up and walked towards Andy. "It was the right thing to do!" Andy argued back. "Then afterwards, you head back inside, like we didn't give him enough of our time, you had to go back inside!" Provenza said as he threw his arms up and turned to walk away.

Julio, Amy, and Mike all looked at each other and they didn't know if they should step in and say something. Julio couldn't let it go though. "You guys go shopping together now?" Julio stated and tried to keep a straight face but failed and bursted into laughter. That made Amy laugh and Mike snickered a little bit. "Ha ha, yeah very funny," Andy said annoyed at the banter as he walked back to his desk. As he sat down he glanced at Sharon, who was sitting in her office on the phone with someone. "For the record, I was only there because Matthew wanted to go shopping with me, his favorite uncle," Provenza stated loudly so that Andy heard him with the rest of the team.

Andy rolled his eyes as he continued to sit at his desk and read the file that was so conveniently placed in their laps now. He heard Sharon still talking on the phone, rather loudly at this point. He felt sorry for whoever was on the receiving end of that phone call.

A minute later, Sharon walked out of her office and stopped at Andy's desk, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she gave him a small smile. She then turned around to the rest of the team in the office as she started to walk away from Andy's desk. "I'll be in with Chief Pope if anyone needs me," she said as she continued to walk towards the door. "Yes, ma'am," Julio said as he gave her a nod as she walked by. After she left, Julio leaned back in his chair. "You guys are in trouble, big time!" Julio said, directing that comment to both Provenza and Andy.

"How so?" Provenza asked as he shuffled some papers off of his desk. "Whenever you get together with Lieutenant Flynn, sir, you always end up in trouble and we have to bail you guys out!" Julio stated as he looked at both of them. Andy took exception to that comment. "Hey!" Andy said to Julio. "It's true guys, sorry but, that's usually what happens in these situations," Mike chimed in. Provenza sat there with his mouth agape. "Oh yeah? Name these instances, Tao!" Provenza stated rather surely.

"Well, the dead body in your garage when you and Flynn tried going to the Dodger game, to start off with!" Mike said and Julio laughed. "That was a classic, and it benefitted us in the end because you guys had to buy us what we asked for!" Julio said as he laughed some more. "Yeah, and for the record, just so you know, I was the one who told Provenza that we should have called it in, in the first place!" Andy defended himself.

"Okay, how about the time you guys dated those flight attendants and Provenza discovered the dead body in the bath tub in one of their apartments?" Mike stated. "Don't remind me! That was a complete disaster in itself!" Andy said to Mike as he stood up from his desk and walked over to the rest of the team. He didn't want to remember that time because Sharon and him had a huge fight, which is what led Andy to go out with Provenza in the first place. "Or how about the time you guys lost the evidence in the car because you stopped at the diner with your suspect?" Julio stated. "That was all his fault!" Andy said as he pointed to Provenza. "My fault?" Provenza asked. "You wanted to stop and eat there," Andy said to him and Provenza pouted.

"Don't forget the time that dead body landed on my car!" Buzz chimed in on the conversation. "You were well compensated for that, Buzz!" Provenza stated as he pointed at Buzz. "Or the jewelry heist you two walked in on," Julio stated. "That was Liz's fault!" Provenza answered in defense. "Oh come on!" Andy said to him as he shook his head.

"You guys have a history with this Dick Tracey guy too," Mike said as Andy and Provenza both looked at him. "Provenza, you were the first one to encounter him when we were at Parker Center still, in that parking garage, remember?" Mike said to him. "How could I forget?" Provenza mumbled. "Yeah, and then he called you when we were with Rusty, but then you blame me for rolling down the window and speaking to him," Andy said. "Well, yeah, I gave you an order and you disobeyed it! Hmm, sound familiar?" Provenza stated. Andy couldn't believe he just went there. "Don't," Andy said to him and gave him a glare worthy of Sharon's Darth look.

Provenza knew he hit a nerve with his last comment and he leaned back in his chair and was quiet. Andy stood there for a minute and then left the office and headed towards the break room. He didn't want to be pouting at the moment but Provenza had given a low blow to him and he knew it. Provenza decided to wait and then followed Andy into the break room. "Sorry about that last comment in there," Provenza muttered to him. Andy leaned up against the counter in the break room. "Yeah, whatever," Andy muttered back to him.

"Are we really that bad that trouble finds us?" Andy said after minutes of silence between the two of them. "Perhaps we are just that good that we run into crimes being committed and such," Provenza added. "Yeah, or we just have bad luck all the time," Andy said as he shook his head. "What do you think Sharon and the Pope are discussing right now?" Andy asked him. "Whatever it is, it can't be good," Provenza said as they stood in the break room.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thanks for the great reviews on this story so far!

Chapter 5

Sharon sat in the Chief of Police office waiting on Chief Pope to enter. She had seen him a few minutes ago out by his secretary's desk explaining some things to her when Sharon initially walked in. "You can sit in my office, I'll be right with you," he said to her and that was about ten minutes ago. As she sat there, she looked around his office, which still had all of the trinkets he had collected over the years. She took a deep breath as she waited.

"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, Commander Flynn," Chief Pope started to say as he walked in his office. Sharon stood up out of respect for the rank. "Wow, I guess I'm still not use to hearing those two words together," he chuckled as they both sat down. Sharon was going to comment but she decided against it at the moment and just smiled at the Chief. "So, judging from your phone call earlier, I understand you have some questions regarding the latest case I want your division to take," Chief Pope said as he folded his hands together on his desk and looked at Sharon who was sitting across from him.

"Well, for one thing, I'd like to know why a shoplifting case is constituted as a major crime because you and I both know that it's simple robbery," Sharon said to him. "I see, well, yes you're right about that, but you and your team have dealt with Jonathan Baird, or Dick Tracey, whatever he's calling himself these days before, and you know how to handle him," Chief Pope stated. Sharon started to speak but Chief Pope lifted his finger to stop her. "Now, yes, I could have kept this case with the guys from Robbery/Homicide, and let them try to solve it, but, I know your team is capable of solving this in half the time it would take those guys. So essentially you'd be saving this department a lot of money by taking on this case," Chief Pope explained his thought process to Sharon.

"Is that what this is all about, sir? Saving the department money?" Sharon said. Chief Pope looked at her. "Look, Commander, you and your team do your job with this case, solve it, find out who's behind these kids that are stealing electronics, bring them to justice, and then everyone is happy," Chief Pope stated to her as he started to get a little irritated. Sharon knew that she wasn't going to win this fight, so she nodded her head. "Yes sir," she said to him and then she stood up and left his office.

As Sharon left his office, she took a moment and paused briefly before heading down the hallway towards the elevators to head back to her floor. 'So, Major Crimes got handed this because we have dealt with Dick or Jonathan before,' Sharon thought to herself as she shook her head waiting for the elevator. The doors opened and Sharon stepped in, hoping that the car would be empty but it wasn't.

"Captain, sorry, Commander," Winnie Davis said as Sharon pressed the button for her floor. "Chief," Sharon responded and they rode the elevator up till the sixth floor. Winnie Davis then stepped out of the car and didn't say a word to Sharon. The doors closed and left Sharon in the car by herself. The elevator took her up to the ninth floor where she stepped out and headed back towards her office.

Before she turned down the hallway she heard someone else calling her name. "Commander Flynn!" Assistant Chief Mason called out to her as he was making his way down the hall. "Assistant Chief Mason, how are you this morning?" she said to him as she waited for him to catch up to her. "Can't complain, how are you?" he asked. "Just fine," she responded, which came out a little harsh. "I understand your team caught a new case this morning," he said to her as they walked down the hallway. "I wouldn't say we caught it, more like it was handed to us through a request," Sharon said.

"Yes, I know, Chief Pope informed me earlier today," Mason said to her. She shook her head. "Why am I and my team the last to know about it then?" she said, sounding very irritated at the moment. "That's my fault as I thought you knew," Mason apologized. Sharon shook it off. "Well, I'd better get back to my team as we have a case to solve now, excuse me," she said as she opened the door to the Murder Room. Mason stood out in the hallway and then went about his business.

Sharon walked in on a quiet Murder Room. Amy and Julio were putting pictures of all of the shoplifters that were caught by Jonathan Baird, or Dick Tracey. The problem was that the nine teenagers that were caught were all let go, only charged with a fine, which was paid by someone else. The last shoplifter that was caught while Andy and Provenza were in the store shopping with Matthew was being held in Juvenile Detention. Sharon studied the board as she came to the center of the room.

Andy looked up from his desk to see Sharon standing there. "Hey, how'd it go?" he asked her as he stood up and moved towards her. Sharon turned around at the sound of Andy's voice and she shook her head. "Chief Pope wants Major Crimes on this case because we have dealt with Jonathan many times before, so we are familiar with him," Sharon said as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Andy placed his hand on her arm and gently rubbed it. "You okay?" he said to her, concerned.

"I have a headache, that's all. Thought it would go away this morning, but it's come back," Sharon answered him, giving a slight smile, and then she turned around and walked closer to the Murder Board. "What do we have so far on this case?" Sharon asked the team. Andy walked up and leaned on one of the desks as the team started to describe the case to Sharon.

"Well, we have nine teenagers who were caught this past week at the store by Jonathan Baird, aka, Dick Tracey," Julio started explaining what they had. "The tenth one that was caught is still sitting in Juvenile Detention Center on Eastlake," Amy stated. Sharon turned around as Amy spoke. "Why is the last child still at the detention center?" Sharon asked. "He's still waiting for his court appearance, ma'am," Julio answered Sharon. "Do we know anything about the nine that paid the fine?" Sharon asked.

"Nothing so far, Commander," Mike said as he looked at his computer screen. "How about who paid their fines?" Sharon asked. "The payment comes back to a Noah Riley, a businessman," Mike answered her. "Who is Noah Riley?" she asked. "Noah Riley, born in LA, resides in Malibu, owns several businesses from car sales to real estate to investment firms," Andy chimed in as he read off of the report he was looking at from earlier.

"Why would he pay the fines for these teenagers?" Sharon asked. "Who knows, Commander?" Provenza added his thoughts to the group. "Has anyone spoken to the teenage boy, Greg O'Connor, at the Juvenile Detention Center?" Sharon asked the group. "No ma'am, Robbery/Homicide did not speak to anyone and no one has been in to see this kid," Julio answered as he swiveled back and forth on his chair he was sitting on. "Do we know when he's scheduled to appear in court?" she asked. "Looks like 11 o'clock this morning, Commander," Amy said as she read off of her computer screen.

Sharon glanced at her watch. They had about an hour before this teenager was due in court. "Okay, I want two of us down at the courthouse waiting for Greg O'Connor. Perhaps one of his parents will show up down there as well and we can speak to both of them. I also want Noah Riley down here asap, and we'll need Jonathan Baird down here as well," Sharon said as she gave out her orders to the team.

"Amy and I can go down to Juvey and talk to the kid there," Julio stated before anyone else could answer. "I'll try to track down this Noah guy, see maybe where he could be hiding," Mike said as he started to conduct some research on his computer. Sharon nodded her head in agreement and then turned to focus her attention on Andy and Provenza.

Andy and Provenza both look at each other. "Oh no, I am not going to bring Jonathan or whatever his real name is now back here," Provenza started to protest. "I need the two of you to bring him down here, perhaps he could help us like he did last time?" Sharon stated and she sounded almost in a pleasant mood. Andy shook his head. Provenza watched Sharon as she retreated back to her office. "What just happened here?" he said to Andy. "She gave you an order and seems like she won the argument for her reasoning," Andy said as he walked over to his desk to put his suit jacket on.

Provenza mumbled something under his breath the whole time they walked to the elevators. "I can't believe we have to go talk to him again!" Provenza said as they entered the elevator. "How many times is he going to involve himself in a police action?" Provenza asked as they got in their police car. "You had to go over to him when we were at the store Saturday," he mumbled as he realized Andy wasn't giving him any responses.

"Hey, I thought we already went through this earlier!" Andy bit back as he drove from the PAB to the Target store. Now it was Provenza's turn to give the silent treatment. Andy glanced at his partner as he continued to drive them to the store. "Are you going to be grumpy the whole time we're here?" Andy asked him as he pulled into the parking lot. "Until we are done with this case, perhaps!" Provenza said, putting on his hat as he got out of the car. Andy rolled his eyes as he got out of the car. The two of them made their way inside the store.

Provenza went straight to the Customer Service desk as Andy looked around the front entrance of the store. "Excuse me, LAPD" Provenza told the worker at the desk and flashed his badge. "We need to speak with your head of loss prevention about a case that he started here," he explained to her as Andy came up beside him. "Oh, do you mean Jonathan?" she asked him. "Yes, do you know where he is?" Andy chimed in as Provenza looked disgusted. She nodded. "Yes, he's in his office, just down this corridor," she told them and they walked down towards the office. "Thank you!" Andy called out to the girl as Provenza knocked on the office door.

The door opens and Jonathan is on the other side. "Oh Lieutenants! What brings you here?" Jonathan said to them. Provenza and Andy glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. "We're here to discuss your pending case," Andy said. "Oh, right!" Jonathan stated as he moved to the side. "Hey wait a minute! I thought you guys couldn't handle something so simple as robbery?" he questioned them. "Yeah, well the Chief of Police thinks differently," Provenza muttered to him. "How is Chief Pope, by the way?" Jonathan asked. "He's fine," Provenza answered. "Whoa, wait a minute here, how did you know Pope was the Chief of Police?" Andy asked him as he watched Jonathan in the office.

"Everyone knows Pope is the Chief of Police, guys, I mean come on now!" Jonathan laughed as he answered. "Alright, here's the deal. Our Commander wants you to come with us downtown to our office where, we are hoping, you can help fill in some gaps in this shoplifting case you brought to the LAPD's attention," Andy said to him as he folded his arms across his chest. "Really guys? Sure I'd love to come down with you!" Jonathan said in excitement and then he grabbed his things and headed out of his office. Provenza and Andy followed him.

"You're not going to handcuff me this time, right?" Jonathan asked them as they walked out of the store and headed to their car. "No, unless you give me a reason to do so!" Provenza quipped as he opened the door to get into the car. "What happened to your lovely Captain? I mean if you guys report to a Commander now, did she move on?" he asked them as Andy drove them back. "Our Captain got promoted to Commander," Provenza stated as he glanced at Andy and gave him a look.

"This is great guys! I can't believe I get to work with you guys again! I'm so excited!" Jonathan stated to them. "Yeah, we're real excited too," Provenza said as Andy pulled into the parking garage at the PAB. Andy and Provenza both got out but Jonathan stayed in the car. Andy walked around the car and didn't notice he was still inside. Provenza looked up to the ceiling and shook his head. "Where is he?" Andy asked and then Provenza pointed to the back seat still.

Andy opened the back door of the car. "Hey, how this works is you need to get out of the vehicle," Andy said to Jonathan. "I have a feeling that you guys aren't happy to be working with me again," Jonathan said. This time Andy looked to the ceiling and rolled his eyes. "Oh geeze!" Andy said and then looked at Provenza. "Apologize to him!" Andy told Provenza. "Me, why should I?" Provenza said. "Because you're the one pouting throughout all of this here!" Andy stated to him and glared. "Fine," Provenza muttered. "Sorry," he said to Jonathan and then turned to Andy. "There, happy now?" Provenza said to Andy.

Jonathan smiled as he stepped out of the vehicle and Andy closed the door behind him. "Great, let's get this over with!" Provenza said as they started to walk towards the elevators to head back up to the ninth floor.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 6

Julio and Amy made their way to the Juvenile Detention Center and spoke to one of the intake personnel there. "Do you have a teenage boy by the name of Greg O'Connor still here?," Julio asked him as he flashed his badge. The intake person looked through his chart. "Yep, he arrived Saturday morning but he's heading to his court hearing at 11," they said to Julio. "Any chance we could see him before he heads there?," Amy asked the person. "Let me see what I can do," he said, as he moved away from the front office area and left Julio and Amy to look around the lobby while they waited.

Meanwhile, Mike was trying to locate Noah Riley but every phone number that was listed for the man either went straight to voicemail or kept ringing. "Any luck?," Sharon came out of her office and walked over to Mike's desk. "No, all the numbers listed are either ringing or going to voicemail," Mike said as he hung up his phone. Sharon glanced at the Murder Board again and looked over all of the pictures. "And there's no other possible connection with these teenagers?" Sharon asked Mike. "Not that we could find, Commander," he said.

Sharon and Mike were going over the information from the store when Andy and Provenza walked into the Murder Room with Jonathan Baird. "Commander Raydor, nice to see you again and congratulations on the promotion!" Jonathan said to Sharon as he walked into the room. "Oh, I'm not," she started to say to Jonathan but looked at Andy who shook his head telling her not to tell him her last name. Provenza cleared his throat. "Uh, Commander, Dick or Jonathan, whichever name he goes by is willing to cooperate with us on this case," Provenza said to Sharon.

"Well, that's what we like to hear!" Sharon said as she shook Jonathan's hand. He took that moment to glance at Sharon's left hand which had caught his eye as soon as he walked into the Murder Room. "Wow! That's a beauty of a ring you have there, Commander!" Jonathan stated to her, smiling, and Sharon was caught off guard. "Oh," she said and then glanced at Andy. Jonathan turned around to look at Andy also. Andy gave him a smile. "Oh indeed Commander!" Jonathan said as he nodded and then pointed his finger at his head.

"Well, I misspoke earlier and called you the wrong name," Jonathan said. "Oh, no worries here!" Sharon assured him. "Wow, Lieutenant, all this time whenever we'd run into each other, I noticed you and the then Captain giving side glances here and there but I never thought you two would get married to each other!" Jonathan said as he grabbed Andy's left shoulder and pulled him in for a side hug. Andy gave a little wince when he did that. "I met your son, Matthew, at the store last Saturday, great kid you and the Lieutenant have!" he said to Sharon. "Thank you," Sharon said and then turned to Provenza as he rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, can we get on with solving this crime here?" he said to them.

"Always straight to the point, Louie!" Jonathan said as he moved over to the Murder Board and started to look at the pictures hanging up on the board. Provenza's face turned a shade of red that Andy had never seen before. "What exactly did these teenagers steal from your store?" Sharon asked him as he continued to look around the board. "Well, Commander, just little electronics, headphones, iPad accessories, nothing big," Jonathan said as he placed his arms on his side.

"Why would they steal that?" Andy asked. "Well, when I caught them, I asked them that very question Lieutenant Flynn, and do you know what the answer was?" Jonathan stated. "No," Andy shook his head. "I didn't get a response from them, they all were silent, like they knew more than they were alleging to," Jonathan said as he moved towards an empty desk and sat down.

Andy, Sharon, Provenza, and Mike all exchanged glances at one another. "So, Jonathan, you don't have any more info for us to use?" Sharon asked him. He shook his head no. "Wait a minute, you told Flynn and I on Saturday that you linked all of these kids together!" Provenza stated. "Yeah, you said that they were all part of some bigger shoplifting ring," Andy said to him. But before Jonathan could answer, Mike interrupted them.

"Commander, I just got a hold of our mystery man, Noah Riley. Turns out his is in the LA area today and would gladly come down here to make a statement, with his lawyer," Mike said to Sharon as he hung up his phone. "Great! In the meantime, Jonathan, can you go with Lieutenants Provenza and Flynn here and give them your statement again," Sharon said as she glanced at her two Lieutenants. Provenza stood up from his desk. "What?" Provenza protested but Andy shook his head and sighed. "Come on, let's get this over with," Andy said to Jonathan and led the way to the interview room.

Sharon and Buzz made their way to electronics to listen to the interview that Andy and Provenza were going to initiate with Jonathan. "He seems more quirkier than I remembered, Commander," Buzz said to Sharon as they sat there in electronics. Sharon smiled as she watched the monitors.

"So, Dick, you want to tell us everything you've figured out from this shoplifting occurrences at your store or should we just arrest you as an accessory?" Provenza said as the three of them sat down in the interview room. "Really, Lieutenant? After all we've been through, you would do that to me?" Jonathan said in a sad tone. "I like that you want to call me by my previous name but like I have said before, my real name is Jonathan and I was told to embrace it, so I have," Jonathan said. "Yeah, yeah, can you just tell us what you know on this case so that we can move forward with it?" Andy said as he rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand.

"Sure Lieutenant Flynn! Ask away!" Jonathan stated as he sat back in his seat. Andy glanced at Provenza and they started questioning him. "What was the date of the first shoplifting?" Provenza asked. "Uh, that would have to of been last Monday, in the morning hours," Jonathan said. Provenza wrote the information down. "Actually, all of the shoplifting occurred in the morning, an hour after the store had opened," Jonathan said as he pointed to the note pad. Provenza glanced up at him and then continued to write.

"So, all of the shoplifters that you caught, they were all of high school age, why weren't they at school then?" Andy asked. "Don't know. Like I said before the kids that I stopped and caught didn't say anything to me when I questioned them," Jonathan said.

"Buzz, do me a favor and run the teenagers names and see what school they attend, please," Sharon asked as she watched the monitors. "Right away, Commander," Buzz said as he opened his laptop and started typing in a search.

Meanwhile, back at the Juvenile Detention facility, Amy and Julio were not having any luck with speaking to Greg O'Connor after reading him his rights, again. "I want my lawyer," he said to them as he sat in a small room. "Are your parents aware that you were caught shoplifting, Greg?" Julio asked him but the boy just stared straight ahead. "Bet you they're worried about you," Amy stated. "My parents think I'm at school, not in this god forsaken place," Greg stated. "Oh, and where is school located?" Amy asked him. "Lawyer," was all that Greg stated.

"Look, Greg, this is how it's going to work out for you. If you cooperate with the police, then we can tell the judge to go lenient on you for this shoplifting charge. If you just want to sit there and answer every question we have with the answer of lawyer, then we have no choice but to tell the judge you didn't want to cooperate," Julio stated to him. "All I'm going to get is a fine and that's it. I'll be released just like everyone else," Greg stated. Julio and Amy looked at each other.

"Wait a minute, how do you know about everyone else involved?" Amy asked him. Greg's face went pale the moment he realized he had let something slip. "Greg? How do you know?" Amy asked him again. Greg just sat there. Julio slammed his fist on the table. "Come on Greg! Tell us the truth!" Julio yelled at him and Amy cringed when Greg jumped up, startled by Julio. "We are all friends, at the school," Greg stated as he didn't know what Julio was going to do next.

"You can't tell my parents about this. They think I'm at a boarding school and if they found out that I was arrested, I don't know what will happen," Greg pleaded with Amy and Julio. "Fine, Greg, we won't tell them just yet, but you need to cooperate with us," Amy said to him. "Okay, just get me out of here, please!" Greg stated to them. They were amazed at the change of tune Greg showed in a matter of minutes.

"The Commander is not going to like this," Amy stated as they placed Greg in the back of their car. "He's willing to cooperate now, Sykes," Julio stated to her as he got in the back seat with Greg. Amy shook her head and got in the driver's seat and drove them back to the PAB.

Back in the interview room, Provenza was losing his patience with Jonathan. "Did you alert the LAPD the first time that you had a shoplifter at your store?" Provenza asked him. "Yes, they told me that they would send a patrol car over and they did, took the kid off with them, and that was it," Jonathan said as he was pacing in the room now.

Andy looked over at where the camera was at and silently sent a message to Sharon who was watching on the other end. "You know, if I could just go over your board with all of you, I could help you connect the dots like I did in the Marcella Brewster case," Jonathan said to them. Andy shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Provenza. "Go ahead Lieutenant, we don't seem to be getting anywhere in there with him," Sharon said in the ear piece that Provenza was currently wearing. She then turned to Buzz to see his progress on the search.

"I ran a search of all of the names and they all currently attend Mayflower School, a boarding school grades 9 through 12, right here in the city," Buzz explained to Sharon. Just then her phone alerted to a text message. She pulled out her phone and glanced at it. "Amy and Julio are on their way back with Greg," she stated and then thought about the best way to approach this.

She stepped out of electronics and back into the Murder Room where she saw Andy and Provenza leaned up against a desk as they watched Jonathan write some information down on the Murder Board. Sharon walked over to them. "Julio and Amy are bringing Greg O'Connor back here now, and then we are waiting on Noah Riley to show up here," Sharon said to them as she watched Jonathan. She tried to follow the lines that Jonathan was currently drawing on the board.

"Wait a minute! That doesn't make sense!" Sharon stated to Jonathan as he turned around from the board. "Who is Diego Fernandez?" she asked him when he wrote that name up on the board. "He is the ring leader of this group, Commander!" Jonathan stated to her and smiled.

Sharon glanced at everyone in the room and gave them a questioning look. "How do you know he is the leader of your shoplifting group?" Provenza asked him as he walked over to stand next to the board. "Because Lieutenant, the teenagers all had his name in their pockets when I caught them," Jonathan explained. "Well, why didn't you tell us that in the first place?" Andy said as he gritted his teeth. "Because you guys weren't taking this case seriously!" Jonathan said. "Okay, okay, regardless of why he kept the name, we now have another person we need to research," Sharon said, breaking up the argument that was occurring in the office.

Sharon pinched her nose again and Andy noticed. "Did you take anything for your headache?" he asked her on the side. "Yes, but it seems to be wearing off now," Sharon said to him, so only he could hear. Andy glanced at his watch. It was now past noon and they didn't break for lunch yet. He was concerned because she didn't eat much for breakfast this morning and wondered how long she had been nursing this headache. "I'm fine, really," she said to him as she placed her hand on his arm. "Okay," he said to her and took her word for it, but he was still concerned.

Amy and Julio walked into the Murder Room with Greg O'Connor in tow. "Interview room one please," Sharon said to them as they walked past her. "Andy, will you join me, please?" she said to Andy and they walked over to the interview room. Jonathan started to follow Provenza into electronics before he stopped him. "Oh no, you are not coming in here!" Provenza said to him. "But, I'm part of this case, and you need me," Jonathan pleaded. Provenza shook his head. "You don't say a word and you sit on the chair along the wall, got it?" Provenza said as Jonathan stepped inside. "I think he's trying my patience," Provenza mutter to himself as he closed the door.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 7

"Greg, we are going to have to call your parents," Sharon said to the kid as he sat across from Sharon and Andy. "No, you can't do that, they don't know about any of this!" Greg pleaded with them. Sharon shook her head and glanced at Andy. "Listen here Greg, the LAPD considers you a minor, which means we need permission from your parents, or guardian to talk to you about the shoplifting," Andy explained to him. "No, no, I already waved my rights to the other detective that spoke to me earlier, uh, Sanchez," Greg stated as he shook his head once.

"I'm glad you are willing to cooperate with us, Greg, but rules are rules," Sharon said to him as she leaned back in her chair. "She likes the rules, Greg," Andy said to him as the kid placed his head down on the table and threw his hands over his head. Sharon pulled her bottom lip in her mouth as she glanced at Andy. Andy then poked the table by Greg's head. "Greg? Come on buddy, we need your parents information so we can call them," Andy said and then Greg lifted his head up. He took a deep breath and then gave them the information.

Provenza stood up from electronics and made his way to the interview room. When he opened the door, Andy handed him a piece of paper with the parents information on it. "Oh, Commander, do we still need our friend, Jonathan, to be here?" Provenza asked Sharon before he left the room. Sharon thought about it for a minute. "No, I think we can handle it from here, he is free to leave," Sharon said and then turned back in her seat towards Greg.

"You know Greg, if you were my child, I would want to know what's been going on, and regardless of what occurred, and what you are involved with, I would try to understand and not judge you," Sharon said to Greg as she tried to reassure his uneasy worry about his parents. Andy watched Sharon as she spoke to Greg.

Meanwhile, Provenza spoke to Jonathan in the Murder Room. "Okay, Jonathan, you heard the Commander, you are free to leave. These patrol officers will take you back to your store, and we will contact you if we have any more questions," Provenza said as they stood by his desk. Jonathan looked around the room. Everyone was busy doing something. "But I thought you needed my help with this case?" he asked Provenza. "We did, and you gave us a new name to look into, which we are doing that, so you can go back to work, or go home, whichever you'd like!" Provenza stated to him with a smile.

"Oh, I see," Jonathan said and then started to walk towards the door. "You'll call me if you need any more information, right?" he asked. "Of course!" Provenza said. "Okay, thanks Lieutenant!" Jonathan said and then left the office and headed back to his store.

Provenza let out a deep sigh as he sat down at his desk. He then dialed the number for Greg's parents and an hour later, his parents were walking in to the Murder Room. "Hello, we received a call from a Lieutenant Provenza earlier about our son being here?" the mom stated as Julio turned around to greet them. "Oh, yes, I'm Lieutenant Provenza. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor?" Provenza said and they both nodded. "Why don't you come with me in here," Provenza stated as he showed them to Sharon's office.

Sharon was waiting inside her office, along with Andy. Provenza knocked on the door and opened it. "Commander, this is Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor, Greg's parents," Provenza introduced them. "Thank you for coming down here," Sharon said as they took a seat in front of her desk. "Is Greg in some sort of trouble?" the dad asked as the mom looked around Sharon's office. "Um, well, Greg has gotten himself in a little bit of trouble. He was caught shoplifting last Saturday morning at a local store," Sharon started to explain. "What! That stupid moron!" the dad shouted out as he slammed his fist into the arm of the chair. "Hey! Watch it pal!" Andy shouted back at the dad. The dad calmed down and sat quietly as his wife spoke.

"So, what did Greg steal from this store?" the mom asked. "Just some small electronics, headphones, really nothing major," Sharon stated. "But, if it's nothing major than why is he being held here at the LAPD still?" the mom asked. "Well, because we have reason to believe that Greg is part of a bigger shoplifting ring, whether he willingly or unwillingly knew about it," Sharon said. "And we need your permission to speak to him regarding this shoplifting ring, because he's still a minor," Andy said as he watched both parents sit there.

"Does he need a lawyer?" his mom asked them. Sharon glanced up at Andy who was leaning against her file cabinet and then looked at the O'Connor's. "He might, but that's up to you," Sharon said. The parents sat there and whispered to each other. "I think we should get him a lawyer," the dad spoke up and pulled out his phone. "If you need a lawyer, we can certainly provide a court appointed counsel," Sharon stated. "No need, we have a lawyer already," the dad said as he dialed a number on his phone. Sharon, Provenza, and Andy all looked at each other and then stepped out of her office as the dad was waiting on the phone.

"Odd that they would have a criminal lawyer on speed dial?" Provenza said as they stepped out of Sharon's office. "It is," Sharon said as she watched them through the glass. "While we wait for their lawyer to show up, any new information on this Diego Fernandez?" Sharon asked the rest of the team as she walked over to their desks. "No ma'am, he's not affiliated with the school that they attend," Julio said.

Just then, Noah Riley walked in the Murder Room with his lawyer. "I was called earlier today by a Lieutenant Tao?" he said to the group. Mike jumped up from his seat and walked over to him. "Noah Riley?" he asked him. "Yes," Noah said. "Lieutenant Tao, we have some questions regarding some money transactions, if you'd come this way, I'm sure we could straighten things out," Mike said as he led him and his lawyer to interview room 2. Sharon nodded to Amy and Amy followed Mike to the interview room.

"Okay, while we are waiting for the O'Connor's lawyer to show up, let's hear what this Noah Riley person has to say," Sharon said. "I can stay back and watch them, Sharon," Andy said to her. Sharon lightly touched his arm and smiled. She then made her way to electronics with Provenza and Julio. Andy stood outside Sharon's office as he watched Greg's mom sit there as the dad paced back and forth.

It so happened that Noah Riley also owned a re-start program for troubled youth, and that's why his name popped up on the bail out fines of the teenagers. Mike and Amy had found that out during their interview with him. "Dammit!" Sharon muttered under her breath and Provenza gave her a shocked look as they sat in electronics. "Maybe the O'Connor's lawyer has arrived by now so we can get on with interviewing Greg," Provenza said to her. Noah Riley was thanked for his cooperation and was released with his lawyer and left the building.

"Sharon," Andy called her to get her attention when she came out of electronics. "Noah Riley is off our list of suspects," Sharon said to him and Andy nodded. "The O'Connor's lawyer is here and believe me, you don't want to know who it is," he said to her as she looked into the conference room now where Andy had moved them as they waited. "Who is it?" she asked, giving Andy an inquisitive look.

Andy sighed and stepped aside so that Sharon could get a better look in the conference room. She saw the O'Connor's sitting with Jack Raydor. "Jack's their lawyer?," Sharon said in disbelief as she turned back to Andy. "Afraid so, and when he walked in here, he demanded to see Greg right away, spewing words of police brutality and what nots," Andy said to her. "I told him that he needed to watch his mouth, which made him laugh even more," Andy said as he scratched his nose with his finger. "I think he thought I was somehow protecting you from him because he also demanded to speak with you when you became available," Andy explained as both of them started to walk towards the conference room.

"Did you check on Greg?" Sharon asked Andy. "Yes, the kid is doing okay, got him something to eat and he's in there with two officers," Andy said. Sharon took a deep breath as they both stopped outside the conference room door. "You don't have to do this," Andy whispered to her. Sharon smiled as she knew he was trying to spare her with the dealings of her ex-husband. She nodded to Andy and he opened the door.

"Jack, I didn't know you were the O'Connor's lawyer," Sharon said as she stepped inside the room with Andy behind her. "Yeah, well, business has picked up a little bit and Johnny and I go way back, so when he called me and told me the information, I knew I had to jump right in," Jack said with a smirk on his face. Sharon hummed as she took a seat across from him at the table. Andy sat down next to her. "Now, would you mind telling me where my client is being held, and why you've kept his parents from seeing him?" Jack stated.

"Jack, no one has kept anyone away. The O'Connor's wanted to wait for their lawyer to show up before they saw their son," Sharon explained to him. Jack looked at Sharon and then at his clients. They just shrugged their shoulders and Jack proceeded. "Okay, well then, show them their son," Jack said as he closed his binder he had in front of him. Sharon and Andy stood up at the same time. "Please, follow me," Sharon said as she led the O'Connor's out of the conference room and over to the interview room. Jack followed them out and Andy kept a close eye on him as he walked behind Jack.

Andy was mad at him ever since he called Sharon and left that message after the hostage situation at the bank. He truly wanted to pop him and wipe that idiotic smirk off of his face, but knew that doing that would not go over well with Sharon, even if Jack deserved it.

Sharon showed them into the interview room where Greg was being held in. When the door opened, Greg looked up and saw his parents entering the room. "Mom, Dad!" he said as they came in. "Oh Greg!" his mom cried out. "Are you okay?" she asked him. "I'm fine mom, they got me some food to eat, and I was just waiting on you guys," he said to her. Greg then noticed a man he hadn't seen before enter the room. "Hello Greg, I'm your attorney and I would like to speak to you in private, without police presence," Jack said as he looked directly at Sharon and Andy.

Sharon and Andy left the room and closed the door behind them. "What do you think he's up to?" Andy asked Sharon as they waited outside. "Hard to say with Jack, he's always up to gaining something out of his clients," Sharon said as she folded her arms in front of her. Provenza and Julio met up with them outside of the room.

"Commander, it seems as if this Diego person has vanished off of the face of the Earth," Provenza stated as he glanced at Julio. "You see ma'am, I traced him back to this address in Westlake, an apartment building there, but according to the website, Lexis Nexis, he stopped paying rent there a couple of weeks ago," Julio stated as he showed the paper to Sharon. Sharon looked at it and then glanced up at them. "So where did he go? What happened to him?" Sharon asked. "There's been no missing persons reports matching his description," Julio stated.

"I'm getting really tired of these dead ends that we seem to be running in to," Sharon said. "Hopefully, Greg can help us out," Andy said. Then moments later, the interview room door opened and they were ready to begin.

Sharon and Andy had a seat again across from Greg, his parents, and Jack. "Okay, Greg, since you told us before that you want to cooperate, and now that your parents and lawyer are present, we can start asking you some questions," Sharon said to Greg as he sat there. Greg looked over at Jack. "Okay," Greg said. "Good, so tell us about the shoplifting," Sharon asked but was interrupted by Jack. "Hang on a minute here, Sharon. Now my client here has agreed to cooperate, but what does he get in return for it?" Jack stated.

Sharon glared over at Jack before she started to speak. "He cooperates and he doesn't get the penalty, and since he is considered a juvenile, it doesn't go against his permanent record, Jack!" Sharon stated directly to him. Jack then turned to Greg and nodded.

"We all met at school, the other kids who got caught as well," Greg started to say. "You and the other nine kids all attend the same school?" Andy asked him for clarification. "Yes," Greg answered. Provenza watched on in the electronics room and when Greg stated that, he turned to Buzz. "Buzz?" Provenza said. "I'm running it, stand by," Buzz stated as he typed in the names of the other shoplifters.

"Go on," Andy said and Greg nodded and shifted in his seat. "Okay, so there was this guy that approached us after school while we were hanging out," Greg stated. "Where were you hanging out?" Sharon asked him. "Outside the campus, there's a park next door that we frequent," Greg answered and Sharon nodded as he continued. "So, one day a couple of weeks ago, this guy comes up to us and asks us if we wanted to earn a few bucks, easily. And we tell him, sure. Who doesn't need money, right?" Greg stated and both Sharon and Andy smiled at the kid. "Sure," Andy said.

"So, he then explains that he needs one of us a day, that way we all can get some money. Richard goes first and meets him at the Target store, close to the school, and then Tommy goes the next day, followed by Martin, John, Hank, Randy, Chris, Steve, Harry, and I was the last one," Greg explained to them. "We were all caught by the security guard at the store, but the rest of them were brought to a station and then given a fine. I was the only one that was brought down to Juvenile Detention over the weekend and stayed there until this morning when those detectives showed up," Greg continued.

"Did this man, who approached you and your friends, ever say his name to you?" Sharon asked. "Yeah, he said his name was Diego," Greg answered. "Did he ever tell you what he did for work, or why he needed you and your friends?" Andy asked him as Sharon wrote down some information on the pad in front of her. "No, but he did mention the items that he wanted us to bring to him when we left the store. He would be in the parking lot and all we had to do was bring the items over to him. They were for some kind of market," Greg stated.

"So when you were in the store last Saturday, this Diego person was in the parking lot waiting for you to bring him the items," Sharon asked. "Yes," Greg answered. "We'll need those surveillance tapes of the parking lot," Sharon said to Andy and he nodded. "Commander, we are already on it," Buzz said in the microphone to her ear piece and Sharon nodded in acknowledgement. "Mike, call the store and see if we can get those tapes," Provenza said to him. "I take it you don't want to speak with Jonathan again?" Mike asked as he pulled out his phone. "No! god no!" Provenza said and then turned around to face the monitors again.

"Okay Greg, you're doing very good," Andy said to Greg. "Humph," Jack said under his breath and Andy shot a glance at him. Sharon shook her head at Jack and Andy continued. "Do you have anything else that could help us identify this Diego guy, hair color, height, accent, anything?" he asked. Greg thought for a minute or two. "Yeah, he was a shorter than you, bald, skinny, and he had a tattoo on his arm," Greg stated. "Tattoo, what kind of tattoo?" Sharon asked him. "Um, it was a picture of an eagle and a snake," Greg said.

"That's the Mexican Mafia, sir," Julio said to Provenza in electronics. "Are you sure, Julio?" Provenza asked. "Positive," Julio stated. "Uh, Commander, Julio stated that tattoo is part of the Mexican Mafia," Provenza said into her ear piece. Sharon looked up and towards the camera in the room and nodded slightly. Just when she didn't want this to lead to some type of gang involvement, it does. "Okay, Greg, I think we are done here, thank you for your cooperation in this, and, um, you're free to go," Sharon said as she exited the room with Andy before Jack could stop them.

She met up with Julio, Provenza, Amy, and Mike just outside electronics. "We need to make sure this Diego was part of the Mexican Mafia," Sharon stated quietly to them. "I'll check with my buddies on the gang squad, ma'am," Julio said as he went back to his desk. "I spoke to the store, Commander, and they are sending the surveillance tapes from their outside cameras to us, in an email," Mike said. "Do you think the store or someone in the store is in danger from this?" Provenza asked her. "No, I don't think so, Lieutenant," Sharon said as they moved closer to the Murder Board in the room.

"Oh Sharonnnn!" Jack stated as he walked into the main area of the office. Sharon's shoulders slumped when she heard Jack call her name like that. It always irritated her. She closed her eyes for a second and turned around to walk back towards Jack. Andy was right next to her. Jack looked at Andy before looking at Sharon.

"Could I maybe have a word with you, alone, without your bodyguard?" Jack asked as he stood there in front of Sharon. Andy's fists clenched but released when Sharon lightly touched his arm. "It'll be okay," she whispered to Andy and then started walking towards her office. Jack followed her and briefly turned around to smirk at Andy. Andy glared at him the whole time and started to follow but Provenza stopped him. "Let her put him in his place, Flynn," Provenza said to his friend.

Andy watched Sharon close her office door once Jack stepped inside. He wanted to know what Jack wanted to speak to her about in private and it bugged him being on the outside of her office. He just stood there, by his desk, like a lost puppy, waiting for the door to open again. Provenza looked at his friend as he went back to his desk. Provenza sat down, shaking his head.

Sharon stood next to the closed door in her office, and faced her ex-husband. "Okay Jack, what do you want to talk about?" she said to him.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Just got back from vacation and I wanted to give you all an update as quickly as possible, so here it is!

Chapter 8

"Why didn't you call me back when I called you last week?" Jack asked Sharon as they stood in her office. "Are you drunk?" Sharon asked him, wondering why he was concerned all of a sudden. "No," he replied. "Jack, I really don't have time for this, while my team and I are trying to solve this case," Sharon sternly said to him as she stood there. "Fine, fine, whatever, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, after all, the kids told me about what happened in the bank," Jack stated as he held his hands up to show her he meant peace. She stood there looking at her ex-husband and shook her head at him.

Jack looked down at his watch. "I got to go anyway, I'm meeting Clarice for dinner tonight, don't want to be late!" Jack said as he smirked at her and went to open the other door in her office. "Oh, I do hope you had a good Mother's Day, Sharon. After all, you are the mother of our two kids, even though you adopted the other ones," Jack started to say but Sharon interrupted him. "Don't finish that sentence, Jack!" Sharon glared back at him. Jack smiled and left her office.

Sharon calmed herself down after he left. The nerve of Jack to want to speak to her alone, and really what for? She took a deep breath and then walked outside her office into the waiting arms of Andy. "Hey, you okay? You're shaking," he whispered to her as he held her. "Just Jack being Jack," Sharon said as she started to move towards the rest of the team. Andy reluctantly let her go as they had a job to do.

"Julio, any word from gang intelligence on our Diego person?" Sharon said as she scratched her head. "No ma'am, not yet anyway," Julio stated as he turned in his chair. "Do we have the surveillance footage yet?" she asked Mike. Mike checked his computer for any new emails. "Sorry Commander, but not yet," Mike said.

A few minutes later, Julio hung up his phone at his desk and turned around to address the rest of the team. "So, I just got off the phone with my buddy in gang intel. He stated that this Diego guy is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia, however, he heard through the streets that Diego got picked up recently," Julio stated. "Recently?" Provenza asked. "Yes sir, as recent as Saturday night," Julio said. "Picked up by whom?" Sharon asked.

Before Julio could answer, Jonathan Baird walked back into the Murder Room. "Commander, Lieutenant Tao, everyone, I understand you needed to see the surveillance footage from our parking lot on Saturday," Jonathan said to them. "You could have emailed it to us!" Provenza muttered under his breath as he sat at his desk. Jonathan walked over to Mike's desk and handed him the surveillance footage. "I placed it on a DVD, that way you could access it better," Jonathan said. "Thanks," Mike said as he stood up from his desk and made his way to the RACR room to view the footage.

Jonathan stood in the Murder Room again watching everyone watch him. "So, did the name I gave you pan out? Have you found Diego yet?" Jonathan asked them. Sharon looked at him. "No, we haven't had any luck in finding him yet but we will," Sharon said. "Um, ma'am, that's what I was going to tell you before we were interrupted," Julio started to say and Sharon nodded for him to go on, giving a slight look at Jonathan. "The Feds picked him up Saturday night, part of a gang task force I guess," Julio ended.

"What do you mean the Feds picked him up? How could they pick him up just like that? Oh, unless they had him under surveillance prior, huh Commander?" Jonathan went on a rant and Sharon looked at him. "Hey, can you calm down, please!" Andy said to Jonathan and stared at him. Jonathan looked at Andy and stopped talking.

"So, the head guy who recruited these kids for his shoplifting heist was picked up by who, Julio, ICE, FBI?" Andy asked but before Julio could answer him, Special Agent Morris and Chief Howard walked into the Murder Room, along with Assistant Chief Mason. "Special Agent Morris, what can we help you with now?" Provenza said to him. Andy rolled his eyes. "I think we're about to get our answer," he muttered to Sharon. Sharon tapped him on his arm.

"Commander, may we speak in your office?" Special Agent Morris said to Sharon. Sharon started to head to her office. "Of course," she said and nodded to Provenza and Andy to join them in there. All six of them walked into her office and the door was closed behind them. Sharon had a seat at her desk and looked at the five men standing in front of her. "Commander, I understand you and your team have been inquiring about Diego Fernandez," Special Agent Morris stated. Andy and Provenza both looked at each other. Andy was about to ask him how he knew they were looking into him but Sharon did instead.

"How do you know about Diego Fernandez?" she asked him. "Well, because he is in our custody," Special Agent Morris said. Andy looked to the floor and shook his head. "Wait a minute! Are you telling us that the FBI has this Diego person in custody, already?" Provenza said in disbelief. "Yes, Lieutenant," Special Agent Morris said as he looked at Provenza. "I don't believe this," Andy muttered.

"We had Diego under surveillance for a while now, and we knew he was recruiting teenagers to do some sort of business for him. You see, Commander, Lieutenants, when we saw Diego at the Target store the first time, we knew something was going on and we had to make our move quickly," Special Agent Morris stated.

Sharon sat back in her chair in disbelief. They had just figured out who this Diego Fernandez was and how he was involved in this whole scheme, to be told that the FBI already has him in custody. "Commander, I wasn't informed of this until Agent Morris here came into my office with Chief Howard, a couple of minutes ago," Assistant Chief Mason said as Sharon looked right at him. "Hmm," Andy muttered as he still was weary of Mason.

"Shocking the FBI wouldn't at least share this information from the beginning," Provenza stated to the room. "Sorry Lieutenant, but we needed to know what exactly we were dealing with and we were only alerted to your inquiries about Diego this afternoon," Special Agent Morris said. "Word travels fast, Agent Morris," Sharon said to him. Sharon looked at Andy and Provenza and took a deep breath. "Well, Lieutenants, I think our case is now closed," Sharon said. Andy and Provenza both stood there and nodded. "If Special Agent Morris needs any information, regarding this case, please be sure to give him the information," Sharon stated.

"Sure, Commander," Provenza stated as he started to walk out of her office. "I would be happy to show Special Agent Morris where all of our paperwork is, and what he could do with it!" Provenza said as Special Agent Morris followed him out. Andy then nodded to Sharon and followed them both out. This left Sharon in her office with Mason and Howard. She smiled at them as they still stood in front of her.

"Well, this is certainly a turn of events," she stated to them as she started to stand up. "Nobody knew that this Diego was under FBI surveillance this whole time?" she asked as she walked around her office. "How could we know, Sharon? The FBI doesn't like to share things well, we both know that," Chief Howard stated as he shrugged his shoulders. "Hmm, still," Sharon said as she looked out her windows into her office.

"What?" she muttered under her breath as she looked at the site before her. Jack was back in the Murder Room, ranting and raving about wanting to see Sharon. "Hey! Listen, Jack!" Andy yelled at him. "Oh Andy, spare me the protective husband gig!" Jack fired back at him. Sharon opened her office door to see her husband and her ex-husband standing toe to toe with each other. "What is going on out here?" Sharon spoke in a loud voice that caused everyone to look at her.

"You! You knew about the FBI involvement with this case, that's why you let my client go, so that as soon as we left, he could be picked up by the FBI who were waiting in the hallway!" Jack accused Sharon and pointed his finger at her. "Hey!" Andy said to Jack as he stepped between him and Sharon. Jack moved forward and Andy stepped right into him. "Jack, I did not know the FBI was involved with this! Secondly, you will not badger my officers or raise your voice in my Murder Room; otherwise I will have you arrested for obstruction!" Sharon said in a firm voice.

Jack knew that he wasn't going to get an edge in now that Sharon came out of her office. He looked at everyone who was staring at him, especially at Andy, and gave him a smirk. "You always win, Sharon," Jack said to her. He then turned around and left the Murder Room. Sharon let out a deep breath.

"What was that all about?" she asked Special Agent Morris, who turned around at her inquiry. "We approached Greg and his parents in the hallway after you released him and asked him if he wouldn't mind coming with us to answer some more questions regarding Diego and I guess, his lawyer took offense to that," Special Agent Morris stated as he was holding all the files the team had for this case. "Thank you, everyone!" he said as he walked out of the office with Chief Howard. "Quite the busy Monday we had here, isn't it Commander?" Assistant Chief Mason said as he left the Murder Room too.

Sharon stood there in the middle of the Murder Room, with her arms crossed in front of her, looking at the Murder Board. "A whirlwind day today," Andy said to her as he came up to her side. She shook her head and glanced at her watch. It was almost time for everyone to go home, and she for one, was looking forward to this day being over.

Jonathan cleared his throat a couple of times and Sharon had forgotten that he was still in the Murder Room. "Thank you, Jonathan, for helping out in this case!" she said with a smile. "Oh, no problem, Commander. I'm glad I was able to help the greatest detectives there are!" Jonathan stated proudly as he stood there watching everyone. Provenza rolled his eyes at his comment.

"Do you need a ride back?" Sharon asked him, wondering why he was still in the Murder Room. "No, I drove my car over here, this time, so I'm good to go," he said. Sharon smiled. "It was nice seeing you again!" she said. "Right! Okay, um well, thanks again everyone! Lieutenants? I hope to see you around the store, huh?" he said. "Yeah, have a good night!" Andy said to him as he waved. Jonathan then left the Murder Room and exited to the parking garage where he parked his car.

"We can clean up the board tomorrow. Everyone, go home, and enjoy the evening," Sharon said to the team as they all stood in the Murder Room, cleaning up. "Thank you, Commander!" Amy said, feeling grateful that she and the rest of the guys could leave now and finish this in the morning. Everyone said their good-byes to one another as Sharon went into her office to grab her things.

When she emerged, Andy was there waiting for her. She smiled at him as he held his hand out for her to take. They walked out of the Murder Room together and headed towards the elevator. "All I want to do, after we pick up Matthew and Moxie, is soak in a nice, relaxing, bubble bath at home," Sharon sighed as she leaned her head up against Andy's shoulder as they waited for the elevator. "Hmm, I think I can arrange that for you," Andy said in a lower voice that gave Sharon goose bumps.

They stepped in the elevator and went down to the parking garage. They made it to their car, and Andy held the door open for Sharon. He then slipped in to the driver's seat and drove them over to Matthew's school.

After picking Matthew and Moxie both up, they stopped on the way home as Sharon had phoned in an order for dinner. They finally made it home, about 30 minutes later, and as Andy pulled the car up the driveway, Sharon noticed the gate was open again. "The gate's open," she said to Andy, not trying to sound too alarmed.

"I'm beginning to think we should set up a camera outside to see what exactly is going on," Andy said as he looked over Sharon's shoulder at the open gate. "Either that or put a lock on the gate, that way it can't be opened by just anyone," Sharon suggested as he pulled the car into the garage and everyone exited the car.

Matthew was about to run ahead with Moxie when Andy pulled him back. "Not so fast, buddy," he said to him. Matthew looked up at his dad and wondered what was going on. "You stay behind us," he told Matthew. Andy glanced over at Sharon who was standing by the garage door and shrugged his shoulders. She knew he wanted to make sure that it was just the gate that was open and nothing else, like the house door or something like that.

Andy walked out of the garage with Sharon and Matthew followed behind them like he was told to do. Matthew had Moxie's leash in his hand. When they approached the back door to the house, Andy jiggled the door handle and found it to be locked still. He unlocked the door and walked in to the house. Everything seemed to be okay and Sharon entered the house followed by Matthew and Moxie.

Moxie ran into the kitchen, sniffing everything on his way in and then went to go lay down on his bed. Sharon placed the food bag on the kitchen island counter and started sorting out the different food containers. "I want you to go wash your hands," she said to Matthew who was sitting at the table. He got up and walked to the kitchen sink.

Andy walked back into the kitchen and Sharon watched him as she laid out the food. "I texted Rusty if he noticed the gate when he left this morning, but he said he didn't," Andy said as he came up to her. "After dinner, I'm going to go to the store and buy a lock for the gate," he said as he poured himself a glass of water. "Okay," she said and smiled at him.

"If you want, I can take Matthew with me, that way you would have the house to yourself for a little bit," Andy suggested to her as they sat down at the table. Matthew was inhaling his food. "We do not eat like that!" Sharon said to Matthew and he stopped. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I'm really hungry, that's all," he added as he looked at his parents. Sharon shook her head. "That's okay. I'll wait till you get back to relax in my bath," she said as she gave him a wink. Andy pictured her in their bath tub right then and let out a little groan. Sharon smiled at him and they continued to eat their dinner.

After dinner was cleaned up, Andy kissed Sharon before he left for the store. It was a passionate kiss that left her breathless. "What was that for?" she asked him as they broke apart. "For giving me the image of you in the bath tub, with bubbles, and candles," he said in a low voice. "Hmm, hurry back and maybe I'll let you join me," she said as she played with his tie. "Yes ma'am," he said to her and then grabbed his keys from the counter top.

Andy then left for the store. Sharon cleaned up the kitchen a little more before retreating to the family room to see what Matthew was watching.

She saw Matthew sitting on the couch with Moxie lying on top of his lap. "What are you watching, sweetie?" she asked him as she sat down next to him. "Star Wars Rebels," Matthew said as he stared at the TV screen. Sharon sat there and watched it for a minute or so before the house phone rang. She reached over to look at who was calling them. The screen said 'unknown caller' so Sharon did not answer. Then her cell phone rang which startled her for a second. Matthew looked over at his mom. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "I'm fine," she said and smiled at him as she looked at her cell phone and saw Emily's name on the screen.

"Hi Emily!" she said as she answered the phone and got up off of the couch. "Hey Mom! How's everything there?" Emily asked her and Sharon walked out of the family room. "Hi Emily!" Matthew shouted as he continued to watch TV. "Things are good here, what's new with you?" Sharon asked her as she sat down at the desk in the den.

Emily then told her mom all the news about her ballet company and how everyone was getting a new contract, but she still hadn't been offered anything. "Oh, honey, I'm sure they are working on it and will present it to you soon," Sharon said optimistically. Sharon and Emily talked for about an hour until Andy came home from the store.

"Okay honey, Andy just came back from the store," she said to Emily. "Say hi to him from me!" Emily said. "I will, and don't worry about your contract, okay. Everything will work out," Sharon said to her. "Thanks Mom, I love you," Emily said. "I love you too, bye!" Sharon replied and then hung up her phone.

Sharon walked into the kitchen and greeted Andy there. "Was that Emily?" he asked her. "Yes, she says hi to you," Sharon said to him as she walked to the refrigerator and got something to drink. "Do you want anything?" she asked over her shoulder. Andy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. "Just you," he whispered into her ear which sent goosebumps all over her.

"Where's Matthew?" he asked her, still holding her in his arms. "He's watching TV, all of his homework is done," she replied as she looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry about earlier, dealing with Jack and all," Andy said to her. Sharon shook her head. "He likes to push my buttons, always had," she simply said as she disentangled herself from Andy. "Did you get the lock?" she asked him as she moved towards the hallway. "Yes, it's already on the gate," he said as he followed her.

"Good, well then, I'm going upstairs to take my bath," she said in a sultry voice. Andy stood there in the hallway and watched her slowly walk up the stairs. "I'll give you ten minutes alone, then I'm coming up there," he called out to her. "Okay," she called out to him as she entered their bedroom.

Andy then walked into the family room and checked on Matthew. "I don't feel good," Matthew said to Andy and then suddenly got up and ran to the bathroom. Andy lowered his head and then followed Matthew to the bathroom. Moxie followed both of them. 'Change of plans' Andy thought in his head as he rubbed Matthew's back while he threw up. Yep, it was going to be one of those nights.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 9

"It's okay, Matthew," Andy said to him as he continued to rub his back. Matthew stood over the toilet, dry heaving now after emptying his stomach twice. Andy flushed the toilet again as Matthew moved against the wall and looked up at him. Andy checked him out and placed his hand on Matthew's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever, which is good," Andy said.

"I feel better now," Matthew mumbled to his father. "I'm sure you do," Andy chuckled at the kid's response. Andy looked around at the floor and knew he had to clean up the mess. "I tell you what, let's go upstairs, you get cleaned up and ready for bed, while I get some cleaning supplies and clean up the mess down here," Andy said to him and Matthew nodded.

The two of them went upstairs and Matthew grabbed his pajamas. Andy made sure he was alright in his bathroom before heading over to their Master Bathroom. Sharon was sitting in the tub, relaxing and enjoying the ambience when she heard the bathroom door open. She looked over at Andy and smiled. "I was wondering what took you so long to get up here?" she said in a sultry voice that made Andy even wanting her more at the moment. He sighed at the thought of not being able to join her. "Enjoy your bath, Sharon, I just came in here to get some cleaning supplies," Andy said with a frown as he glanced at Sharon.

Sharon sits further up in the tub. "Why? What happened?" she asked him as he grabbed a bucket and some bleach spray. "Matthew threw up his dinner and then some, a few minutes after you came upstairs," Andy said to her as he started to walk back to their room. "Wait a minute!" Sharon said as she started to get out of the tub. "No, please, Sharon, he's fine, no fever and he's washing up right now. Please, enjoy your bath," he told her as she wrapped a towel around herself.

"I enjoyed a good twenty minutes of it, where's Matthew right now?" she asked as she dried herself off in front of him. "You really are trying to kill me here, aren't you," Andy mumbled but Sharon heard him and smiled. He couldn't help himself, Sharon was absolutely stunning and every time he saw her, he wanted her more and more.

"I'll help him get dressed while you clean up the downstairs bathroom," Sharon said as she threw on a pair of yoga pants and one of Andy's shirts. "Then, after everything is good, I'll give you a reward since you missed out on the bath time," she said to him as she passed him in the hallway. Andy grabbed his left earlobe and started to pull on it as he watched Sharon leave in front of him. He watched Sharon knock on the bathroom door and Matthew opened it.

Andy then went downstairs and started to clean up the bathroom down there. Moxie was watching him the whole time. He glanced over at the dog and saw him sitting there watching what he was doing. "Hey buddy," he said to the dog and Moxie wagged his tail as he sat there. Andy washed the bathroom floor and Moxie went to step inside the bathroom. "No, you can't come in here," he told the dog and Moxie sat down again.

Meanwhile, Sharon was still upstairs with Matthew. "So, what happened?" she asked him. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't feel well all of a sudden and I ran to the bathroom. Daddy followed me and then I threw up," Matthew said as he put on a t-shirt. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Sharon said in a soothing voice as she wiped his face with a washcloth. "I told Daddy that I was sorry that I missed a couple of times," Matthew started to say but Sharon stopped him. "It's fine, really Matthew," Sharon said as she didn't want him to relive the whole thing. In fact, she didn't want to hear all the details about him being sick.

Matthew put on the rest of his pajamas and after he was all cleaned up, Sharon walked him back to his bedroom. "Okay, are you feeling better?" she asked him as he sat in his bed. "Yes," he said as he held his stuffed Goofy close to him. Sharon brushed her fingers through his hair. "Lie down and I'll read a story to you," she said softly to him. Matthew did and listened to the story that Sharon was reading to him.

Downstairs, Andy wiped his brow as he stood there in the cleaned bathroom. "There, all clean," he said to himself and Moxie. He placed the mop and bucket outside in the hallway and turned the light off. Moxie was right there wagging his tail. Andy noticed how Moxie was following him. "Do you need to go out?" he asked the dog and Moxie got super excited.

Andy grabbed Moxie's leash and the two of them headed out the back door into the yard. The motion sensor light turned on once they were outside and lit up the backyard. Andy took a look around while Moxie did his duty. He got a funny feeling about this whole gate incident and didn't think it was just nothing. The lock he had purchased was placed on the inside of the gate, so someone wouldn't know it was there if they tried opening it from the outside.

Now, the only way into the yard would be through the garage side door or the back door of the house. "We'll see if this stops the mystery of the open gate, right Moxie?" Andy said as the dog looked up at him, finished with his duties for the night. Andy shook his head and went back inside the house with Moxie. He locked the door for the night and undid Moxie's leash. The dog ran up the stairs and Andy followed shortly after.

He made his way into Matthew's room to check on him and found Sharon sitting on the edge of Matthew's bed, still reading him a story. Andy stepped into the room and Sharon looked up at him and gave him a smile. He smiled back at her and then she continued to read to Matthew. Andy noticed that Matthew wasn't sleeping yet. "How are you feeling?" he asked Matthew. "Better, but my stomach still hurts," Matthew said in a sleepy voice as he settled into his pillows.

Andy watched the sight before him for a couple of minutes. Matthew was trying to stay awake as he listened to Sharon read, Moxie was now sleeping on Matthew's bed, and Sharon looked absolutely beautiful as she sat there. "I'm going to go take a shower now," Andy said to Sharon and she nodded to him. "Okay," she said. "I should be done soon," she added and then she watched him leave the room.

Andy made his way to their bedroom and went into the bathroom. It still smelled like the jasmine bubble bath that Sharon had used not too long ago. Andy closed his eyes and breathed in the scent. He then walked over to the shower and turned it on to cold. He took his clothes off and stepped inside the shower, letting the cool water run over his body. His body was on fire ever since Sharon kissed him in the bathroom that morning.

From dealing with the case right when they walked in to having to deal with Jack in the afternoon, Andy shook his head as he stood there under the water spray. He hated Jack with a passion and really wanted to hit him good in the face, to wipe that smirk off that he always leaves with. He wanted to hit him for all the times that he had hurt Sharon when they were married. Andy felt the rage build up and before he knew what he was doing, he punched the tiled wall in the shower.

He didn't hear Sharon walk into the bathroom at this point and open the shower door. She saw him heaving his shoulders as he stood there under the water. She reached out to touch him and that's when she felt the coolness of the water. "You're taking a cold shower?" she questioned him. He closed his eyes, hoping that she did not see him punch the wall, and then slowly turned around to face her.

"I want you so much, Sharon. I needed to cool my body off," he said to her as she stood outside the shower. Sharon reached in and turned the water off before handing Andy a towel. Andy wrapped the towel around his waist as he stood there in front of her. She slowly removed the shirt she threw on earlier as she went through her nightly routine of getting ready for bed.

Andy walked up behind her and bent his head down to whisper to her. "You're killing me, you know that, right?" he whispered in her ear. Sharon stood there in her bra and yoga pants as she rubbed moisturizer on her arms. Andy took the moisturizer bottle out of her hands and placed it down on the countertop. That's when Sharon noticed his right hand and the two scraped knuckles. "What happened?" she stopped him.

"It's not important," he said to her as he began to kiss her neck. She turned around in his arms and slowly walked him back into their bedroom. When the back of Andy's knees hit the edge of the bed, he sat down and pulled Sharon on top of him. "Did you have a nice bath tonight?" he asked her in between their kisses. "I did, but I missed you," she said to him as she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "How's your headache from earlier?" he asked her as he kissed her nose. "Better," she smiled. "How's he doing?" he asked. "He's finally asleep after reading that story twice to him," she said as he scooted back on the bed and pulled her with him.

Hours had passed as the two of them laid there in their bed. The sheet barely over Sharon's back as she lay tangled with Andy. "You want to tell me about what happened to your hand now?" she said in a whisper to him. He was lazily drawing circles up and down her back. "I got mad and punched the shower wall, stupid I know," Andy said as she lifted her head up to look at him. "Why would you do that?" she asked him.

"I pictured Jack in the Murder Room today and I wanted to punch him right there when he started pointing his finger at you and accusing you of misdirecting him and that kid," Andy said in a huff and sighed. Sharon let out a sigh as well. "Andy," she said as she shook her head and then laid her head back onto his left shoulder. Andy let out a hiss when she did that. "What is it?" she asked him. "Nothing," he said but then she gave him her look and he caved.

"When Dick Tracey was in the office earlier and nudged me in the shoulder, I guess he nudged a little harder than I thought," he said and she got worried. "It's nothing, honestly. Besides, I don't want to complain with every ache and pain I have," he added and she leaned into him and gave him a kiss. "We need to get some sleep," she said to him as he continued with his hands rubbing up and down her back. "If Matthew is still feeling sick when he wakes up in the morning, I can stay home with him," he told her as she settled back down, shifting a little so that her head was now on his chest. "Let's see how he is first," she said quietly as she closed her eyes while Andy continued to rub her arms gently.

Morning came quickly for them as their alarm woke them up. Sharon stirred as Andy got up to turn the alarm off. He put on his pajama pants and started to head towards the door to the hallway. "Where are you going?" Sharon asked him as she started to wake up. "I'm just going to check on him," Andy said as he opened the door.

When he stepped out into the hallway, he noticed that the bathroom light was on. He walked over to Matthew's room and opened the door. He saw him sleeping on the floor with his pillow and blanket. Moxie was sleeping next to him. When Andy walked in, Moxie picked his head up and watched him. "Matthew?" Andy said as he got closer to him. Matthew woke up and rubbed his eyes as Andy knelt down.

"How are you feeling this morning, kiddo?" he asked him. "My stomach still hurts," Matthew said as he planted his face back in his pillow. "Did you throw up again?" Andy asked and Matthew nodded. "Why didn't you wake Mommy or me then?" Andy asked him. Matthew then sat up and wrapped the blanket around himself as he shrugged his shoulders, not giving an answer to the question.

"Why don't you get back in bed, and I'll go see if we have something to settle your stomach, okay?" Andy said as he helped Matthew off of the floor and get back into his bed. Andy turned around and headed downstairs. Sharon peeked her head out of their room and saw Andy heading downstairs. "Hey, is he okay?" she asked him. Andy looked up at her from the stairs. "He says his stomach still hurts him and he threw up again," Andy said as he continued down the stairs to the kitchen.

Sharon made her way to Matthew's room. She hated him being sick and thought last night it was just because he ate his dinner so fast. She saw Matthew lying down on his bed when she entered his room and sat down next to him. His eyes were open and he looked at her. "I hear you still feel sick?" she said to him as she placed her hand on his cheek and forehead. "Yeah," Matthew said. "Do you feel hot at all?" Sharon asked him and he shook his head 'no'. "I threw up again this morning," he said quietly to her. "I know, Daddy told me," she said as she sat there looking at him.

Andy came back with a can of Seven-Up and a cup. "Here, drink some of this, maybe it will help settle your stomach," he said to Matthew. Matthew took the cup and took a couple of sips from it. He then handed it back to Andy who placed the cup on his night stand. "He doesn't have a fever," Sharon said to Andy and he nodded. "Maybe he should stay home from school?" Andy said as he glanced at the clock in Matthew's room. Sharon nodded in agreement and stood up from Matthew's bed. "I'll give the school a call then," she said as she passed Andy and headed over to their room.

Andy looked at Matthew again before he headed to the hallway bathroom to assess the damage in there. When he approached the bathroom, he noticed some towels were on the floor and spread out around the toilet. Andy cleaned up the bathroom, moving the towels to the laundry basket that was outside in the hallway. "I called the school to let them know he's not going in today," Sharon said as she came up behind Andy. "Good, I can stay home with him today, I just need to let my boss know," Andy said to her and gave her a wink. "Oh, I think the boss will understand," she said to him and smiled.

Sharon then turned around and went to their room to get ready for work while Andy continued to clean up the bathroom. After he was finished, he went to their room and grabbed his phone, unplugging it from its charger. He sat at the foot of the bed and texted Provenza that he would not be in as Matthew was sick. Sharon was busy getting herself ready for work when Andy peeked his head inside the bathroom.

"I can make you breakfast if you'd like," he said to her as she was styling her hair. "That would be wonderful," she smiled at him. Andy stood there watching her get ready for work. She turned around and saw him staring at her. "What?" she asked with a smile. "You're beautiful," he told her and she blushed. He then left her, after throwing on a t-shirt, and went to check on Matthew before he headed downstairs.

While he was in the kitchen making Sharon and him breakfast, his phone buzzed on the counter. He glanced at it and saw there was a message from Provenza. It said, 'What's wrong with the kid?' Andy responded to his message. "He's sick, stomach bug or something like that. I'd go into the details with you but I don't want you to be disgusted" Andy said as he typed the message to Provenza and hit send. 'Don't say another word, Flynn. We'll manage the day without you. Although dealing with the Commander without her favorite monkey by her side will prove difficult!' Provenza's message stated. Andy rolled his eyes when he read it and shook his head. He texted a response back to him. 'I'll let her know you said that', he typed and sent to him. 'I will deny all plausibility!' Provenza wrote back.

Andy heard Sharon starting to walk towards the kitchen in her heels and placed his phone back in his pocket of his pajama pants. "I checked on him before coming down here, he's sleeping again. Does your partner know you won't be in?" she asked him as she walked past him to grab a glass of orange juice. "Yes, I texted him and he responded," Andy said not going into the details of their conversation minutes ago. "Good," she said as she sat down at the kitchen table. Andy brought over the food he cooked her. "This all smells delicious, Andy," she said, smiling, as she looked at the plate he placed in front of her.

After they were done eating, Sharon helped Andy put the plates away at the sink. "After I leave work today, I will stop by the school and pick up whatever homework Matthew has for the day," Sharon said to him as she started to place some things inside her work bag. "Sounds good," he replied as he placed the plates in the dishwasher after rinsing them. Sharon glanced at her watch. "Please behave yourself today," she said to him as she gave him a kiss. "Of course I will," he said as they broke apart. "You be safe today," he said to her. "Always," she answered as she walked away to grab her car keys.

"I'll call you later this morning to see how he's doing," Sharon called out to Andy as she made her way to the back door. Andy followed her and held the door open. She turned around and gave him another kiss. She sighed when they broke apart. "I love you," he said to her. "I love you too, Andy," she said and then walked out the door towards the garage.

When she pulled her car out, she waved to Andy who was still standing there by the back door. He waved back to her and then watched the car leave the driveway. Andy then stepped back inside the house. "Okay," he said to himself as he rubbed his hands together. He walked back into the kitchen and finished cleaning up. He was going to check on Matthew in a little bit.

Meanwhile, outside the house there were two figures sitting in a parked car across the street. One was watching the house while the other was reading a newspaper. "Was that them?" the one who was reading the newspaper asked. "It was definitely a car from their house, but I couldn't see inside it when it passed us up," the other one sneered as he continued to watch their house. "It's still early, let's wait a little bit longer here," the other one said as he continued to read the newspaper. The two figures continued to sit in the car and wait.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 10

Andy was upstairs in Matthew's bedroom checking on him. He reached to open the blinds with his left arm and winced a little in pain. He shook it off and opened the blinds. He looked out the window and saw someone walking their dog. Moxie jumped up and ran over to the window and started barking at the other dog. "Moxie! Shhh! You're gonna wake up Matthew, now stop that," Andy said to the dog and Moxie just looked at him. Andy noticed a car parked on the other side of the street that wasn't there last night. It was marked on the side as Southern California Edison. 'Huh' Andy thought to himself.

Matthew woke up and moved the covers off of him. Andy turned around and saw Matthew getting out of bed. "Hey, you okay?" he asked him. Matthew nodded and padded down the hallway towards the bathroom. Andy followed him out and waited in the hallway for him to be done. Matthew came out a couple of seconds later. "Did you wash your hands?" Andy asked him. Matthew stopped and turned around. He walked back inside the bathroom and washed his hands.

"Are you hungry? I can make you some plain toast if you want, or you can have some dry cereal," Andy said to Matthew as the two of them went downstairs. Moxie followed them into the kitchen. Matthew took a seat at the kitchen table. "Can I have some cereal?" he asked Andy. "Sure buddy, not a problem," Andy said as he went into the pantry and retrieved the Cheerios box. He poured them in a bowl for Matthew and gave it to him, without milk. Matthew slowly started to eat them.

Andy was feeding Moxie when Rusty came through the back door. "Hey, I heard Matthew wasn't feeling well," he said to Andy. "Yeah, he has some sort of stomach bug," Andy replied as he closed the dog food container and placed it back in the mud room. "I was on my way to the DA's office this morning, but I got a text from Mom letting me know what was going on, I wanted to see how things were before I left," Rusty explained to Andy who gave him a skeptical look.

Andy glanced at his watch. "You know, your mother hasn't even been gone for twenty minutes, she's already sending you to check up on us," Andy chuckled at the thought. "She's worried, can you blame her?" Rusty said as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass of orange juice while he was there. Andy watched him interact with Matthew at the kitchen table.

As Rusty was getting up from the table a couple of minutes later, Andy stopped him. "Oh, Rusty, by the way, did you happen to see a utility car sitting across the street from the house last night when you came home?" Andy asked him as he walked with him to the back door. "Um, no, not that I saw," Rusty said as he opened the door. "Do me a favor kid, when you leave take a picture of the car that's sitting across the street and send it to my phone, okay?" Andy said to him. "Okay, but why?" Rusty asked. "No reason, just want to make sure of something, that's all. Oh, and don't tell your mother about it, okay?" Andy said to him. "Okay, bye," Rusty hesitated as he left and Andy closed the door.

His gut feeling was telling him something was up with that car out in front of their house but he didn't want to alarm anyone just yet. A few minutes later, he received a text message from Rusty with a picture of the car. He sent him five pictures, all taken as Rusty drove past the car. He got the front, back, and side of the car. Andy saw two people sitting inside the vehicle as well. He then turned his attention to Matthew who was still sitting at the kitchen table.

"Can I go watch TV?" Matthew asked Andy as he pushed the now empty bowl in front of him to the middle of the table. "Sure buddy," Andy told him as he grabbed the bowl and placed it in the sink. Moxie followed Matthew and Andy started to put away the food that was left out. After that was done, he decided to go check on Matthew before heading upstairs to change his clothes. "You doing okay in here?" he asked Matthew as Matthew was laying on the couch. "Yes," Matthew said quietly as he watched the cartoon on TV.

Andy then went upstairs. On his way to change his clothes, he stopped in Matthew's room for a minute to see if that car was still there. It was indeed. Andy thought it was strange that he didn't see any orange cones or any activity coming from the vehicle. He then walked into their bedroom and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He looked out the window from their bedroom but the tree in front of their house blocked his view from there. Andy then picked up the laundry basket with all the dirty towels in it and brought it downstairs and threw it in the washing machine.

Afterwards, he called Mike on the phone. Mike was sitting at his desk when his phone rang. "Hello?" Mike answered. "Hey, Mike, I need you to do me a favor, and don't alert Sharon about it," Andy said to him. "Oh, uh, are you sure about that?" Mike chuckled as he looked towards Sharon's office, which was empty for the moment. "Yes, at least for the moment. I'm going to send you a couple of pictures of a car that's been sitting out front of our house, I want you to run it and see if it comes back to anything. Something isn't sitting right with me here," Andy said.

"Sure, I'll take a look at it," Mike said as he shifted in his chair to look at his computer. "By the way, how's Matthew feeling?" he added as he looked at his email. "He's doing better now," Andy said. "Okay, got your email, I'll look at it and run the plates and get back to you," Mike said. "Thanks Mike, oh and remember, keep it between us for now," Andy said. "Right," Mike answered as he looked back at Sharon's office again and hung up his phone.

Sharon then arrived at work and made her way into the Murder Room. "Good morning, everyone," she said as she walked to her office. Mike briefly looked up from his computer to see her walk into her office. Provenza waited until she placed her things down at her desk before following her in to her office. He knocked on the open door. "Commander, how's the kid doing?" Provenza asked her. Sharon smiled and turned around. He did have a soft spot when it came to Matthew, although he'd deny it if you confronted him with it. "He got sick last night and again this morning. When I left he was sleeping, but I told Andy I would call later this morning to see how things are," Sharon said to him as she sat down at her desk.

"Do we have any open files with the case from yesterday?" Sharon asked him as he stood there in her office. "Ah, no. Everything we had from the case, we turned over to the FBI," Provenza said. "Good, so then today is a catch-up day then," Sharon said as she shuffled some papers on her desk. Provenza nodded in agreement. "Uh, Commander, are you sure Flynn can handle the kid being sick?" he asked her before he walked out of her office. She looked back at him with a worried look. "Oh, I'm sure they will be fine, besides I told him to behave himself, how much trouble could he get into?" Sharon said and then thought about it while Provenza left her office.

Back outside the house, in the car, the two men sat there watching the house. "Why did we choose today to break in? It looks like someone is still home," Marvin said as he hit Henry in the arm with the newspaper he finished reading. "Hey!" Henry said as he rubbed his arm. "Oh come on now, I didn't hit you that hard!" Marvin said. "Boss said we break inside and take something that belongs to them, as a revenge type deal," Henry said. "Yeah, but they're cops, I mean should we really be messing with them?" Marvin said in a worried tone. "Are you scared?" Henry said as he made fun of him. "No, I'm not scared," Marvin mumbled. "We scoped this house out for a couple of days now and figured out the best way to get in was through the yard, right?" Henry said to Marvin. "Plus, wearing these uniforms it will look like we are doing actual work," he added.

Henry got out of the car and leaned back inside. "Come on Marvin!" he said to the other man as he made his way to the back of the car. Marvin got out of the car and Henry handed him an orange cone. "Place this in front of the car. I've seen it out before," Henry said and Marvin nodded. They both started making their way to the house, carrying a bag of tools. "What if someone is still home?" Marvin said as they crossed the street. "Look, we'll look around again, if it's safe, then we'll go inside, if not, then we'll come back, although the Boss isn't going to like that," Henry said.

Andy was sitting in the kitchen going over some bills when his phone rang. He picked it up from the table and saw Sharon's name and picture on the screen. He smiled as he answered the phone. "Hello, my love, is everything okay?" he said to her. Sharon chuckled at the way he answered his phone. "Everything is fine here at the office. How are things there?" Sharon asked him. "Well, Matthew ate some dry cereal this morning and is now watching some cartoon on TV," Andy said to her as he leaned back on the chair.

"Well that's good," Sharon said sounding relieved. "You know, I can take care of a sick child, Sharon," Andy told her as he chuckled into the phone. "I know, it's just," Sharon started to say to him but he finished her sentence. "You're a mother and worry, I know," Andy said and smiled. Sharon smiled as well. "How's your shoulder doing?" she asked him, changing the topic. "It's fine," he muttered. "Hmm, maybe you should go back to the orthopedic and have them look at it again?" she said as she shuffled through the papers on her desk. "Sharon, it's fine. A little twinge, that's all," he said, almost annoyed but tried to ease her worry anyway.

Andy looked up out the kitchen window to see two men, wearing utility uniforms walking down their driveway. "Hang on a second, Sharon," Andy said as he paused to look at them. "Something's not right here," he added. "What's happening?" she asked him but she got silence. "Andy?" she said in a worried voice. "I think I know how the gate has been left open," he came back on the phone as he peered through the sliding glass door to get a better look.

"Let me call you back, there's two ComEd guys here, who look out of place," Andy said to her. "What? Andy what's going on?" she asked again. "I'll call you back," he said and then hung up his phone. She sat there for a second, alarms going off in her head that something wasn't right. She grabbed her phone and walked out of her office into the Murder Room.

"Commander, everything okay?" Provenza asked her as he watched her walk out of her office. "Uh, I'm not sure. I called Andy and in the middle of our conversation he said there were two ComEd guys walking up our driveway, he said they didn't look right and told me he would call me back," Sharon said to Provenza and the rest of the team.

"I'm sure it's nothing, just Flynn trying to worry you that's all," Provenza said quickly to her. Sharon gave him a look. "Uh, I'm not quite sure about that, Lieutenant," Mike said as he pushed his chair back. All eyes turned to Mike and Sharon moved closer to his desk. "Flynn called me before you walked in and asked me to run a couple of things on a suspicious car that was parked across the street from your house. I guess he noticed it this morning," Mike said and Sharon now gave him a look that was mostly directed towards Andy. Mike held up his hands. "He told me not to alert you as he doesn't want you to worry," Mike grimaced. Sharon placed her hands on her hips. "Uh oh, I think the Lieutenant's in trouble," Julio mumbled and Sharon turned around to look at him. Julio saw her turn around and he immediately looked down at the papers on his desk.

"What did you find, Tao?" Provenza asked. "This car was reported stolen from the Southern California ComEd department a couple of weeks ago, but there's no other reports about patrol looking for the car or anything like that," Mike said as he showed everyone the pictures that Andy sent him. Sharon glanced at the pictures that Mike was putting up on the board and then back at her phone.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Andy was still looking out the sliding glass door to see what those two guys were doing. "Daddy?" Matthew said and startled Andy. He looked over at him. "Hey, you need something?" Andy asked him and still looked outside. "What are you doing?" he asked Andy as he looked at him and tried to move closer to see what he was looking at. "No, uh, Matthew, I need you to do me a favor, okay?" Andy said and Matthew nodded. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked him. "Yeah," Matthew replied. "Good. I need you to go upstairs to your room. Take the phone with you, and stay up there until I tell you it's safe, alright?" Andy said to him.

Matthew looked at his father. "What's going on?" he asked. "There's two guys outside," he started to explain to Matthew but Matthew interrupted him. "Are they from the electric company?" he asked him. "How do you know?" Andy asked as he kept an eye on the two guys who were now trying to get the fence open. "I saw the car earlier," Matthew said. "What do you mean, earlier?" Andy asked him. "Last week, before we went to Disneyland," Matthew said as he followed Andy towards the back door.

Andy turned around and looked at Matthew. "Why didn't you say anything to your mom or me about it?" he asked him as he went back to the hallway closet and pulled out his back-up piece. Matthew's eyes went wide when he saw his father pull out a small gun and holster, and placed it on his belt with his shirt covering it. Andy saw this and tried assuring Matthew. "Just as a precaution, don't tell mom," Andy said and gave him a wink. Matthew nodded and then ran up the stairs.

Andy then made his way back to the back door of the house and tried to see where those two guys went. Matthew came back downstairs holding a baseball bat and joined Andy at the back door. Andy heard the patter of little feet behind him and turned around. There was Matthew, still in his pajamas, holding the baseball bat that Andy kept in their bedroom. He lowered his head and shook it. Moxie was right next to him now. "I want you to stay in the house, please," Andy said to him and he nodded. Andy gave him a smile and then opened the back door. "Moxie, stay with Matthew," he told the dog and stepped outside.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 11

"Do we know who stole the vehicle, Mike?" Sharon asked as she walked around the Murder Room. "No," he replied as he looked on his computer. "Has there been any recent burglaries that occurred with people posing as utility workers anywhere in the Los Angeles area?" Sharon asked her team as she glanced at her phone. "No ma'am," Julio replied as he turned around in his chair. She looked at Julio and then back at her phone. "Come on, Andy," she whispered to herself.

As Andy stepped outside onto the back porch area, he turned around and saw Matthew standing in the door way. He motioned him to stay there and Matthew nodded. He overheard voices coming from over the fence and saw the gate jiggling a little. Andy moved closer on the porch and stood there with his arms crossed. "Hey!" he yelled out to the two guys.

Marvin and Henry were trying to get in the backyard but were met with a locked gate. "Why isn't this opening?" Henry stated and Marvin jiggled it to see if it was stuck. "It opened so easily the other times," Marvin stated as they stood there. After they heard a voice that wasn't theirs, they froze instantly.

"I can see the both of you over there. Why are you trying to get into my yard?" Andy shouted to them. Marvin and Henry looked at each other and then took off running back to the front of the house. Andy turned around and ran back through the house, making sure he didn't run into Matthew and opened the front door. As he ran out the front of the house, he met up with Marvin and Henry just as they were clearing the driveway.

"Hey! LAPD! Stop!" Andy shouted at the two as he pursued them. Marvin dropped the bag of tools as he ran towards the car. Henry got into the driver's side and Marvin on the passenger side and the car drove off. Andy stood at the end of the driveway, catching his breath. "Dammit," he swore to himself as he had his hands on his hips. Andy saw that a bag of tools was dropped, but he needed a pair of gloves to pick it up as he didn't want his fingerprints to be on the bag for evidence.

He turned around to go back into the house and he saw Matthew and Moxie now standing at the front door. As he made his way back inside, he tousled Matthew's hair and closed the door behind him. "Go put that back upstairs where you got it," he told Matthew and Matthew ran up the stairs with the baseball bat. Andy then went into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water and a pair of gloves when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Sharon's name on the screen.

"Hello?" he answered, slightly out of breath still. "Andy!? Is everything okay?" Sharon asked him as she stood in her office, Provenza right by her side. "Sharon," he said as he took a deep breath. "Andy?" she said as she glanced at Provenza with a worried look. "There were two guys trying to get into the backyard," he said as he leaned up against the counter. "What? Are you okay? Is Matthew?" Sharon said in a panic. "We're fine here, they ran off and I chased them but they got away in their vehicle," Andy said trying to reassure Sharon over the phone.

Sharon turned around again in her office and sat down in her chair, all the time listening to Andy talk and breath. "They dropped a bag full of their tools. I didn't pick it up yet because I wanted to get a pair of gloves first," Andy said to her as he made his way to the mud room to get his gloves he left there. "I'll send Mike over there to help process it, maybe we can get some fingerprints off of them, or something," Sharon said to him as she nodded to Provenza.

She waited until Provenza left her office before she spoke to Andy over the phone. "Andy, why didn't you tell me your suspicions earlier when we spoke?" Sharon said in a calmer voice. Andy sighed and rubbed his neck. "I didn't want you to worry," Andy said sheepishly. Sharon shook her head and closed her eyes. "Andy," she whispered. "Look, don't send everyone over here to process this as a crime scene, okay. Just send Mike," he said to her as she gathered her jacket and was heading out the door to join her team.

"Are you sure you are okay?" she asked him as the team gathered around her. "Yes, we are fine here," Andy said. "Okay, I'll see you later then," Sharon said. "Bye," Andy said and hung up the phone. Sharon looked around at her team. "Okay, so we have a call come in from a reliable source stating that two men tried to break into their backyard, and then when confronted, the two men ran away to their vehicle," Sharon said. "That was stolen," Provenza added. "And take off down the street," Sharon added. "These two men left a bag full of tools, which may have their fingerprints on them," Sharon said as she nodded to Mike.

Mike pulled out his desk drawer and grabbed his bag of tools to bring with him. "Buzz, I want you to come along and video tape the scene," Sharon said to him and he grabbed his video camera. Detective Sanchez, I would like you and Amy to go to the lot where this car was stolen from, find out if there's video footage of it, maybe we'll get lucky and get a picture of these guy's face," Sharon said and they nodded. The team started to walk out of the Murder Room. "You really think Flynn wants all of us over at your house?" Provenza asked as he and Sharon walked to the elevators. "It's not going to be all of us, Lieutenant," Sharon said as they stepped onto the elevator.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Matthew joined Andy in the hallway as he was coming towards the front door. "Who were those men?" he asked Andy. "I'm not sure, kiddo. But they left something behind, I'm going to bring it inside and then Uncle Mike is coming over to take a look at it," Andy said to him as he opened the front door again. Matthew stood there looking at Andy. "Everything okay?" Andy asked as he placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder. "Can I go with you?" he asked him as he stood there. "Matthew, I'm just going to the driveway to pick up a bag and then coming right back inside," Andy explained to him. "I know," Matthew said as he shrugged his shoulders. Andy stared at the kid and then took a deep breath. "Okay, come on," he said and the two of them walked out the front door.

Andy and Matthew walked to the driveway and Andy bent down to pick the tool bag up. He peeked inside and saw the various tools that were in the bag. Andy then looked up to see two unmarked cars turning into the driveway. "Mom!" Matthew said and then ran up to the car he saw her in. Sharon saw Matthew running up to her, still in his pajamas, but at least he was wearing shoes this time. Sharon got out of the car and Matthew hugged her. "What are you doing here?" he asked her as he pulled away. "Well, Daddy called about the two men and we came over," she said as she saw Andy right behind Matthew.

"Go inside the house, Matthew," Andy said to him as he walked over to Sharon. On the way over, he handed over the bag to Mike. "I thought we talked about just sending Mike over here?" Andy said in a lower voice as he saw Buzz with his video camera. "Well, we received a call from a reliable witness and we decided to come out and see for ourselves," Sharon said to him, but Andy shook his head. "Sharon, I told you that everything was taken care of, Matthew is fine, I'm fine, the dog is fine," Andy said to her as she walked back into the house.

Andy stood there as Provenza joined him on the front porch of the house. "What happened to your hand?" Provenza asked Andy. Andy looked down at his hand. "That's not from this morning," Andy muttered to him. Provenza watched him. "It's nothing, alright?" Andy pleaded. "You better not be hiding things from her or from me for that matter!" Provenza lectured him. "Would you just get inside, please?" Andy said quickly to him as he held the door open. Provenza hesitated but then stepped inside the house and followed them into the kitchen.

"Mike ran the plates on the car that was parked out front, it came back to being stolen a couple of weeks ago. I have Julio and Amy at the Southern California ComEd looking into that right now," Sharon said to Andy. Mike was set up in the kitchen and laid out a cloth over the table. He then carefully took out the tools, one by one, and dusted them for fingerprints. Matthew watched him closely.

"Matthew, why don't you give Mike some room?" Andy said to him. Mike looked up. "Oh, I don't mind, besides I was just telling him about Badge of Justice and how," Mike started to say but Andy interrupted him. "Oh no! You are not corrupting him on Badge, oomph!" Andy said as Sharon slapped his stomach and gave him a look. He looked at her and couldn't believe she did that. "Matthew, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed, please," Sharon said to Matthew, not skipping a beat. Matthew climbed off the kitchen chair, reluctantly. "Okay, bye Uncle Mike!" Matthew said as he walked away.

"Um, Commander? What do you want me to video tape here?" Buzz asked Sharon as they were standing in the kitchen. Sharon turned to Andy. "They didn't break in, Sharon," he said to her. "Hmm, go show Buzz where the car was parked and then walk up the driveway towards the back fence, maybe they left something else that we don't know about," Sharon said. "Right, come on Buzz," Andy said as he waved at Buzz to follow him, and gave Provenza a glance before he left the kitchen.

Buzz was videotaping the area where the car was parked while Andy stood there and watched him. Andy shook his head and Buzz looked up at him from his camera. "Something wrong, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked him as he held his camera down and stopped taping. "Nothing Buzz," Andy said and then Buzz lifted the camera back up. "It's just that I don't think Sharon thinks I can take care of a sick kid. I mean I've done it before, granted it was a while ago, but I think I can handle it," Andy said and Buzz held the camera back at his side.

"What makes you think that, sir?" Buzz asked him as they stood on the sidewalk. "I told her to just send Mike over here when I spoke to her over the phone. She didn't have to send you and Provenza also, plus she didn't have to come here herself, either," Andy said to him. Buzz went to speak but Andy held up his hand. "I know what you're going to say, Buzz. She's worried," Andy said in a defeated voice. Buzz shook his head. "If you know the answer sir, why even ask?" Buzz said as he turned around to start filming the driveway. Andy looked at him, his arms now crossed against his chest and watched as Buzz started to walk along the driveway.

Meanwhile, Mike had pulled several prints off of the tools and placed them on the cards he had brought with. "We got some good prints here, Commander," Mike said as he started to put everything away. Sharon nodded and watched Andy and Buzz walk up the driveway from the sliding glass door. She could tell just by his stance that Andy was starting to get annoyed with everything. She decided to join him in the driveway but before she walked through the sliding glass door, she turned around to her Lieutenants in the kitchen. "Make sure everything is packed up, give me five minutes and then we will head back to the office," Sharon said to them. "Sure," Provenza said and glanced over at Mike who was standing by the table and gave him a wide-eye look.

Sharon stepped outside and joined Andy and Buzz by the back fence. "Buzz, I think we got enough video. Mike is packing up inside, why don't you see if he needs any help," Sharon said to him as she walked up to Andy. "Yes ma'am," Buzz answered and then went back inside the house. Sharon ran her hand up Andy's right arm. "Is everything okay here?" she asked him as he looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with her. "I can take care of Matthew when he's sick, I don't need you to check up on us, or send someone to check up on us," Andy said to her in a low voice as to not bring attention to them outside.

Sharon took a deep breath before she spoke. "I know that," she said quietly. She lifted his chin so that he was looking at her. "Andy, those fifteen minutes when you said you would call me back, I couldn't breathe. I imagined the worse that was happening. I trust you, Andy," she said to him. He looked at her and stood there, not moving. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her but Sharon shook her head. "What are you sorry for?" she asked him as a tear started to fall down her cheek. Andy wiped it away with his right thumb. "For worrying you," he said to her.

They stood there for a couple of minutes before Andy spoke again. "Don't get mad," he started to say as Sharon looked at him. "What did you do?" she said in a teasing manner. Andy huffed. "No, not me, but earlier this morning, before I confronted those two guys, Matthew told me that he saw that car from the electric company, outside our house last week before we went to Disneyland," Andy said in a serious voice. "He did?" Sharon stated in a louder voice. "Look, I already spoke to him, but I thought I would tell you," Andy said as he grabbed her hand in his.

They made their way inside the house and Mike had already packed up the bag of tools along with the evidence they gathered from them. Andy walked Sharon and the rest of them to the front door. Matthew came downstairs dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He was carrying his pillow and his stuffed Goofy animal. "Bye sweetheart," Sharon said to Matthew. "You're leaving already?" Matthew asked her and gave her a pouted look. "I have to go back to work, but Daddy is here to take care of you, okay?" she said to him and he nodded as she ran her hand on his face, checking to see if he had a fever.

She turned around to Andy. "I'll see you later tonight," she said to him, giving him a smile. He smiled back at her and then she stepped outside. "Bye," he said to her. Provenza waited for her on the front porch before walking behind her towards the car. They got inside and drove back to the office. Andy closed and locked the front door. He turned around and saw Matthew walking into the family room with Moxie following him. Andy placed his gun back in the safe in the hallway closet. He then made his way into the kitchen, pulling an ice pack out of the freezer and placed it into the shoulder sleeve that he had received from his physical therapist a couple of weeks ago. He placed the sleeve on his left shoulder and let the coldness of the ice pack sooth the pain his shoulder was giving him. He then joined Matthew in the family room.

"Can we watch a movie?" Matthew asked as Andy walked inside the room. "Sure buddy, what do you want to watch?" he said as he made his way to the TV. "LEGO Batman," Matthew said as he placed his pillow on the couch and curled up. Andy shook his head at the choice but pulled out the Blu-ray disk of the movie and placed it into the player. He grabbed the remote control and sat down on the couch as well. Matthew moved next to Andy and curled up into his side. "Is your shoulder bothering you again?" Matthew asked him as the movie began to play. "A little bit, but nothing to worry about," Andy said to him as they settled into the couch to watch the movie.

Meanwhile, at an unknown location, Marvin and Henry were arguing with each other. "I can't believe you left the bag of tools at that house!" Henry yelled at him. "I didn't see you carrying it, that bag was heavy!" Marvin said back to him. Henry's phone rang in his pocket as the two of them stood in a room. "Great," he muttered to himself as he took his phone out of his pocket and saw who was calling him. He glanced at Marvin before answering it. "Hello?" he said in the phone. "Is it done?" the other person on the phone asked. "Um, well, we ran into a little problem. You see, while we were approaching the house, you wanted us to enter, that cop was home," Henry said as he looked at Marvin.

"Which one?" the other person asked. "The man," Henry said and then he continued to plead their story. "So, we tried going through the backyard gate, but for some reason it was locked or something and then the cop came out and confronted us so we ran back to the car," Henry explained. "I see," the other person said and then paused. "I guess I hired a bunch of buffoons then!" the person said over the phone. "I give you one job to do, and you mess it up!" the person yelled. Henry moved the phone away from his ear for a second before returning it.

"That's not the only problem we have here," Henry started to explain and heard silence from the other end of the phone. "Marvin left the bag of tools at that house, and I'm pretty sure the cops have it now," Henry said. "What!" the other person yelled into the phone again. Henry cringed as he looked at Marvin. "You better pray that the cops find you first before I do, otherwise you're not going to like what happens," the person said and hung up the phone. Henry placed his phone back in his pocket and walked over to where Marvin was now sitting at the table. "We need to move," Henry said.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews so far for this story. I just wanted to address people's concern for Andy experiencing some pain in his shoulder. Do not worry, he is NOT having a heart attack. Sometimes after a person gets shot, especially in a joint, and goes through physical therapy after it has been repaired, there can still be some pain that lingers on and off, depending on the day. This is what Andy is experiencing. A lot of people don't want him to have a heart attack, neither do I. I hope this eases some concern. Thanks again!

Chapter 12

Sharon and Provenza walked off of the elevator and started to make their way to the office when the saw Chief Mason standing in the hallway talking to some patrol officers. As Sharon and Provenza walked past them, Chief Mason called out to Sharon. "Commander Flynn, Lieutenant Provenza!" he said and then excused himself from the patrol officers. Provenza and Sharon both stopped, just short of the door the led into the Murder Room and turned around. "Ye gods," Provenza muttered to himself.

Chief Mason walked up to them. "Did your team catch a case, Commander?" he said with a questionable look on his face. "Um, well, sort of chief," Sharon said as she looked to Provenza to help her. Provenza watched as Sharon explained. Provenza cleared his throat and then began to speak. "You see here chief, there have been a number of unexplained attempts of burglary in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and one of those attempts just happened to have occurred at the Flynn household, while Flynn was at home with Matthew who is sick," Provenza explained.

"Oh, I see, well you know Sharon, that you and Andy cannot work this case then, right?" Chief Mason said. "I'm taking charge over this investigation, don't you worry, uh chief!" Provenza said as he looked at Sharon who had a panic look on her face now. "Did Andy witness anything?" Chief Mason asked. "Yes, yes he did. Um, he saw the two men attempting to break into our backyard, and they also left behind a bag full of their tools, which Lieutenant Tao has pulled some sets of fingerprints off of," Sharon said and Chief Mason stood and nodded at them. "Okay, well, keep me apprised of the situation and good luck," he said to the two of them and then left to go back to his office.

Sharon let out a deep sigh as she looked over at Provenza. Provenza just shook his head and opened the door to the Murder Room. Sharon walked in first in front of Provenza and saw that Julio and Amy had arrived back from the electric company's building. "Julio, Amy, did you find anything over at the electric company?" Sharon asked them as she walked to the front of the Murder Board.

"We found surveillance footage that they had from when the vehicle was stolen ma'am, but we couldn't see the faces of the two people who took the vehicle," Julio stated as he turned in his chair. Sharon scanned the room. "We gave the footage to Buzz to see if he can make it more legible to see," Amy added as she saw Sharon looking around. Sharon nodded. "Mike, do we have any luck with the fingerprints yet?" she asked him. He turned around in his chair. "I'm currently running them through our fingerprint database, so hoping we get a hit soon," Mike said as he crossed his fingers and showed everyone that.

"Alright, in the meantime, I would like to know if there are or were similar burglaries, or attempts at a burglary like this M.O. in the last six months," Sharon said to Julio and Amy. They both acknowledged and started getting to work on their computers. Sharon started to walk towards her office. Provenza stood up from his desk and joined her before she walked inside. "Uh, Commander, aren't we forgetting something here?" he said to her. Sharon looked at him. "And what's that, Lieutenant?" she asked him. "Ah, that I'm in charge of this investigation," he said to her as they walked into her office.

He closed the door behind him as Sharon sat down in her chair. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that was you out there in the hallway doing one of your improvisations so that we could keep this investigation to ourselves, and not Robbery/Homicide," Sharon said nonchalantly to him as he stood in front of her desk. "Um, well, it was, in the beginning when I started to say it but then Mason said that he didn't want you or Flynn involved in the investigation, because it is a conflict," Provenza explained to her. "Hmm, I see," Sharon said as she thought for a moment.

"Well for the purposes, as far as Chief Mason is concerned, it will look like you are in charge, Lieutenant, but for the purposes of this squad, I will still be running everything," she said with a smile. Provenza stood there, knowing that he wasn't going to win this fight so he decided to change the topic. "How did Flynn hurt his right hand?" he asked her. Sharon was caught off guard by that question. He wanted to see if Andy lied to him today about not keeping things from Sharon. "He punched the shower tile last night," she said. "Jack brings that out in him," she added as if it was no big deal.

"So, you know about it then," Provenza said and Sharon nodded 'yes'. "Something wrong?" she asked as he stood there. "Well, we both know how he likes to keep things, especially when it comes to his health, from us and I just wanted to make sure he informed one of us about it," Provenza stated. "He did, Lieutenant," Sharon said as she went through one of her desk drawers looking for an empty file folder. "Okay, I'll just, ah, leave you be," he ended up muttering the end to himself. "Let me know if there are updates, Lieutenant!" Sharon said as Provenza walked out of her office. She took out an empty file folder and started to put some papers inside.

Back at the house, Andy and Matthew were still watching the movie. Andy glanced at his watch to see the time, it was a little past noon. He looked down at Matthew who was now sleeping. His head on Andy's right knee and the rest of him sprawled out on the couch. Andy's shoulder was now cold and he was able to remove the sleeve from his shoulder without waking Matthew up. The ice had felt good on his shoulder and reduced a lot of the uncomfortableness that he was experiencing earlier that morning.

He knew that Sharon was just concerned for him like she always was. The movie ended and Matthew was still asleep. Andy thought about waking him for some sort of lunch, if he was hungry. He gently moved Matthew off of him, which in turn, woke him up. "Did Batman win?" Matthew asked in a groggy voice. "Yes, he did," Andy chuckled as Matthew sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Like you, Dad," he yawned and Andy stood up from the couch, taking the melted ice pack with him. "Well, I don't win all the time," Andy muttered to himself as he watched Matthew get up from the couch. Matthew didn't hear that comment.

"Are you hungry?" Andy asked him and Matthew nodded 'yes' as he stretched his arms over his head. "Come on, I'll make you something bland to eat, like toast and maybe some scrambled eggs, how does that sound?" Andy said as they both made their way into the kitchen. Moxie was laying on his bed in the kitchen and perked his head up when he saw them walk in.

Matthew sat down at the kitchen table and petted Moxie who came over to sit next to him. "Are those bad guys gonna come back here?" Matthew asked innocently as Andy pulled out the bread and an egg from the refrigerator. "Um, I don't think so. I scared them off pretty good," Andy said as he cracked the egg into a small bowl and he began to stir it. He then looked back at Matthew as he prepared lunch for him. This kid had been through a lot but had grown up from when they had found him scared in the closet after his mother died. Andy was proud that Matthew looked up to him as his dad, and he would do anything to protect him. He also knew Sharon would do the same thing.

"What did they want?" Matthew asked which brought Andy out of his thoughts. Andy turned around and placed the egg and some plain toast on a plate for Matthew. "Uh, well, we are not quite sure, but your Mom and the rest of the team are trying to figure that out right now," he said as he brought the plate to the table. "If I feel better later today, do you think we could go outside and play catch?" Matthew said to Andy as Andy made his way back to the refrigerator and made himself a sandwich. "Sure we could do that," Andy smiled.

A couple of hours later, Matthew was sleeping on the couch again and Andy was sitting in the den at the desk. His cell phone rang and when he glanced at it on the desk, he saw it was Sharon calling him. He answered the phone. "Hello?" he said to her. "Hey, how's everything?" she said to him as she sat in her office overlooking the view of the city. "Good, how bout you? Everything okay there?" he asked her. "We're just waiting for the fingerprints to come back, although I don't know why it is taking this long. Buzz is trying to get a better image on the surveillance footage that we received," Sharon said. "Hmm, you sound a little frustrated," Andy said, hoping that wouldn't irritate her.

"We ran into Chief Mason when we returned from our house," Sharon started to say as she turned around in her chair. "Oh, how'd that go?" Andy asked. "He wanted to know if we had caught a case and Provenza stepped in and started to tell him, vaguely, what had happened," Sharon said. "Oh geeze!" Andy quipped. "Well, to make a long story short, you and I cannot be involved in the investigation of this case now," Sharon sighed. "Sorry," he said. "But, like I told your partner earlier, for all intents and purposes, I am running the investigation still, but on the outside, it will look like he is in charge," Sharon told him. "Oh, well, I'm sure he loved that," Andy laughed.

"He did pout in my office after I told him, but he seemed okay afterwards. He even changed the subject to discussing you, and if you were keeping your health concerns to yourself again," Sharon said as she smiled. Andy shook his head. "He saw my right hand when he was here this morning and asked me what had happened. I told him it had nothing to do with what happened with the two men and not to worry about it," Andy said in an annoyed voice. "Well, he seemed shocked when I told him I knew about it and what had happened," she said as she peered into the Murder Room from her windows in her office and saw Provenza gathered around Mike's desk.

That made Andy chuckle a little, knowing that his partner was once again stumped by him and Sharon. "Hey, I'm sorry about the whole badge thing earlier," he told her in a quieter voice. "Sorry for hitting you," she said. "How's Matthew doing?" she asked as she stood up from her desk. "He's fine. I made him a bland lunch which he ate and now he's watching TV again," Andy smiled as he said that. "Okay, well I'm going to go. Remember, I am stopping at his school on the way home to pick up his homework," Sharon said. "Right, got it!" Andy said. "I love you," she said in the phone. "I love you too" he told her and they both hung up.

"Hey Dad?" Matthew said quietly, as he stood by the door. Andy looked over at him; pushed out his chair he was sitting in, and stood up. "Hmm?" Andy asked as he walked over to where Matthew was standing. "Can we play catch now?" Matthew said as he walked with Andy to the back of the house. "Sure buddy," Andy said and then looked around for the dog. "Where's Moxie?" he asked Matthew. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Moxie!" Andy called out for the dog. A couple of seconds later, they heard Moxie running towards them in the kitchen.

Matthew grabbed his baseball glove and Andy did the same. They then went out into the yard and played a game of catch. Moxie was running around the yard and lingered over at where the gate was. He was sniffing around the area pretty good. "Are you excited about playing baseball this summer?" Andy asked Matthew between throws. Matthew nodded. "Jeremy and Brody are also playing at the park," Matthew said as he dropped the ball. He picked it up and threw it to Andy. "Well, maybe they'll be on the same team as you?" Andy said as he threw the ball back to Matthew. Jeremy and Brody were two kids in his class. They had become friends since the first day Matthew joined that school.

The two of them played catch for about fifteen minutes until Matthew was too tired and didn't want to chase after the ball anymore. "Why don't we take a break now, you don't want to overdo it," Andy said as the two of them sat on the chairs on the porch. Andy looked over to see what the dog was doing. Moxie was laying in the grass enjoying the sunshine that they seemed to be having this past week.

"I'll need to get baseball cleats and a kid's bat too," Matthew said to Andy as they sat there, enjoying the day. "Baseball doesn't start for another month, we've got plenty of time to get you everything you need to play," Andy said as he ruffled Matthew's hair. "Come on," Andy told him as he stood up. "Let's go in the house and get you something to drink," he added and started to walk to the back door. Matthew followed his dad. "Come on Moxie!" Matthew called out and Moxie came running over and went inside the house.

Back at the office, Sharon stood next to Mike who was sitting at his desk. "I don't get it, Commander. This system says that the "transaction" is still in progress," Mike said as he was frustrated that the prints were still going through the system checks. "It shouldn't take that long to run prints, Tao," Julio stated. "Maybe it's operator error?" Amy said as she and Julio ganged up on Mike. "Ha, ha," Mike said. "Enough, enough," Sharon said as she turned to Julio and Amy, and chuckled at the comradery her squad had with one another.

"Can you call someone to see if the system is down?" Sharon asked Mike. "Or how about just submitting them again?" Provenza added to the conversation. Buzz came back from electronics and walked over to Sharon. "Commander, I've gone over the video footage we have here of the stolen vehicle and I really can't get a sharper image than the one I have on the screen in electronics," Buzz said to Sharon as he gestured back to the room.

Sharon nodded at Buzz and then turned to Mike who was getting even more frustrated at the moment. "Mike, call someone, do what you have to do to get those prints to come back!" Sharon said to him and then followed Buzz into electronics. Provenza stood up and joined them inside. Sharon looked at him when he walked in the room and then Buzz showed them both the picture. It was a little clear, but still fuzzy at best. "How can we see anything here?" Provenza complained. "Sorry sir, but this is the best I could get it to," Buzz stated as he sat there.

"It's fine, Buzz. Besides, we knew it would be a longshot to get a clearer picture," Sharon said to Buzz and then looked at Provenza. "If Mike can't get those fingerprints to run in the system, then tomorrow, when Andy comes in, we'll have him sit down with a sketch artist and have him draw us a sketch of the two guys," Sharon explained to Provenza. "Do you think that's gonna work?" Provenza asked back, opening the door from electronics to the Murder Room and they stepped out.

"Commander, no can do with the fingerprints. Apparently it is a system problem and they are currently trying to fix it, but they told me that it won't be up until tomorrow morning," Mike said as he watched her walk towards the Murder Board. "Well, in that case," she said as she glanced at the clock. "Is there another angle we can work in the meantime?" Sharon said as she stood looking at the board. Everyone watched her but didn't say anything.

'Who are these two guys and why would they want to break in to our house?' she thought to herself as she stood there. "Commander?" Provenza called to her as she stood there thinking. "I was just thinking who these two guys are and what were they doing at our house. Apparently, they have been scoping it out for almost a week because Matthew mentioned seeing that car outside our house last week to Andy, this morning," Sharon said as she stood there with Provenza.

"Well, I'm sure they won't come back to your house," Provenza said. "Hmm, what makes you so sure about that, Lieutenant?" Sharon asked him as she turned around to face him. "Usually, it's been my experience when dealing with robbers that they don't go back to the house they attempted to break into after being chased by the police," Provenza said to her.

"If we didn't get any hits from the M.O that we have, guys posing as utility workers and then breaking into homes, then perhaps your and Lieutenant Flynn's house was the target?" Julio stated as he sat at his desk and swiveled his chair. "But why? What's the reason behind it?" Sharon asked as she stood in front of her team, and wondered if Andy and Matthew were safe.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 13

"It could be any number of reasons, Commander, why these guys chose your house. Uh, disgruntled officers you fired in the past, for example," Provenza chuckled to Sharon, but Sharon did not find that funny and gave him her stare instead. "I don't think these guys are former cops, Lieutenant. They don't seem like the type," Julio stated. "To me, after watching that video and listening to what Lieutenant Flynn said this morning, they seem most likely to have been hired by someone else," Buzz chimed in and everyone looked at him sitting at his desk.

"Okay, assuming that Buzz is correct with that accusation, who would hire these two people to break into your home?" Provenza asked. "Like you said before, a disgruntled police officer I fired in the past, or someone from Lieutenant Flynn's past," Sharon answered and moved towards her office. "That list is too long to even begin," Provenza muttered as he sat back in his chair. "Which one sir?" Julio said as he looked at him and then at Sharon entering her office. "Both," Provenza said as he rubbed his face with his left hand.

"What would they want to steal from their house, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked Provenza as he walked over to the printer to pick up a report he had printed. He deposited some change into the jar on Provenza's desk afterward. "I don't know Buzz. I was hoping that we would at least have a name to go with the fingerprints we collected this morning," Provenza said directing that last sentence towards Mike. "System is down, what do you want me to do about it?" Mike said as he sat there drinking a cup of coffee.

"If the Commander and the Lieutenant compile a list of all the people that could go after them, then we would at least have some names to go by," Amy said optimistically as she walked back into the Murder Room. "Are you kidding, Sykes?" Provenza stated to her. "That list would be miles and miles long!" Julio added. "It's just a thought," Amy said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, we already discussed it like a minute ago, where were you?" Julio asked her. "I was in the break room," Amy replied as she sat down at her desk.

A couple of minutes later, Sharon came out of her office and addressed her team. "Why don't we call it a night, start fresh in the morning," she said to them. "Sure", "Thank you, ma'am" were the responses she heard from them. As they packed up for the night, Provenza walked back inside her office and saw her packing her bag with some paperwork. "Do you need anything?" he asked her, knowing that she wouldn't tell him if she did need something.

"I think we'll be fine, Lieutenant, thank you," Sharon said as she grabbed her car keys and stood there. "I'll walk down with you," he said to her and then grabbed his stuff and the two of them walked out of the Murder Room, minutes after everyone else had left for the night. "Well, we can eliminate the one person we all thought would eventually break into your house, Stroh, since Flynn killed him last year," Provenza said, breaking the silence between the two.

Sharon gave him a quick look at the mention of that name again and shook her head. "No, I don't think it's him unless he's come back from the dead, Lieutenant," Sharon said as they stood inside the elevator. "Sorry," he muttered, knowing that he hit a nerve, as the elevator took them down to the parking garage. They stepped off and made their way towards Sharon's car.

"You sure you don't need anything Commander?" Provenza asked her. "I can send patrol past your house a couple of times tonight," he offered but Sharon shook her head. "No, I think we'll be alright. Good night, Lieutenant," Sharon said as she got in her car. "Good night," Provenza answered and turned towards his car to get in.

Sharon pulled out her phone and sent Andy a quick text. 'Leaving now to go pick up Matthew's homework at school' she said to him. A few seconds later, he responded with an 'okay, see you soon'. She started her car and then drove off to Matthew's school.

When she finally arrived home, she was greeted by Moxie at the back door, wagging his tail. "Hi Moxie," she said to the dog and then stepped inside the house. Closing the door behind her, she turned around and smelled something cooking coming from the kitchen. When she stepped inside the kitchen, she saw Andy standing at the stove cooking dinner. "Hello," he called to her as he was mixing something. She walked over and placed her bag on the floor next to the island. "Something smells good," she said as she walked up to Andy from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Andy turned around and met Sharon with a kiss. "Hmm, I missed you," she hummed in her response to their shared kiss. She then looked at the sauce that he was making. "Want to try some?" he asked her. "Yes, please," she said and waited as Andy took the spoon and placed it in the saucepot, cooling it off as he blew onto it, and then placed it in front of her mouth. She took a little sample of his homemade tomato sauce and smiled. "Very good," she said to him. Andy smiled and tasted the rest of the sauce she left on the spoon. "Perfect," he said as he placed the spoon in the sink and turned the stove off.

"Where's Matthew?" she asked him as she stood there watching him remove the pot with the cooked noodles and rinse them off at the sink. "He should be in the family room, watching another movie," Andy said as he placed the rinsed noodles in a bowl. She turned around and went looking for him as Andy stayed in the kitchen.

Sharon walked into the family room and saw Matthew lying on the couch. He was awake and watching TV. "Hey Matthew, how are you feeling?" she said to him as she walked around the couch and sat down next to him. "Mommy!" Matthew said and moved over to give her a hug. "I'm feeling better," he said to her as she hugged him back. "I stopped at your school on the way home and picked up your assignments that you missed today," she said to him as he pulled away. "Okay," he said, pouting, as he turned back to the TV.

"So what else did you and Daddy do today?" Sharon asked him, as they sat there on the couch. "We watched a movie, and played catch in the backyard," Matthew said as he was focused on the TV. "Good, why don't you get cleaned up, wash your hands and then meet me in the kitchen, okay?" she said to him as she stood up. He was still watching TV. "Matthew?" she said again. He stood up and stretched. He then turned off the TV and made his way to the bathroom in the hallway to wash his hands.

Sharon walked back into the kitchen and Andy had already placed everything on the kitchen table. The food smelled delicious to her. "This all looks wonderful, Andy!" she said as she sat down at the table. "What would you like to drink?" he asked her. "Water is fine," she replied as Matthew then joined them and sat down. "Here buddy, some plain noodles for you," Andy said as he placed a little bit on Matthew's plate. "Can I have some sauce with this?" he asked Andy. "Oh, sure, just a little bit though," Andy told him as he sat down at the table.

After they ate dinner, Sharon helped Andy clear the kitchen of dishes, pots, and glasses. Matthew sat at the cleared table and did his homework. Sharon leaned up against the counter as Andy placed the last remaining dishes inside the dishwasher and closed it. Andy watched Sharon and she seemed lost in her thoughts. He gently touched her arm which brought her back to him. "Penny for your thoughts?" he whispered to her. She smiled and touched his hand.

"Just thinking about what happened, that's all," Sharon assured him as she looked at his eyes. "We were not able to run the fingerprints Mike lifted this morning because the system was down," Sharon explained. "We don't know who these guys are, or what their motive was, Andy," she added, worried, as he rubbed her arm with his hand. "Come here," he whispered to her. "How's your shoulder doing?" she asked him as he pulled her in for a hug. "It's better, I ended up icing it this morning after you guys left," he told her as she breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.

Minutes went by before she pulled away from his embrace. She did not want to break the safety she currently felt in his arms but the two of them needed to discuss this case. She looked up at him, giving him a sad smile. He brushed away the lose strand of hair from her eyes. "Hey," he whispered to her as he looked into her deep, green eyes. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She opened her eyes and met his. She then glanced over to see Matthew still working on his homework.

"There was a discussion of this possibly being a hit of some kind," she said focusing back at Andy. Andy nodded and ran through scenarios in his head. "We'll figure this out. If they come back, I won't let them get away," Andy shrugged his shoulders as he held her hand in his hand. "You didn't let them get away. From what you told me, you ran through the house, dodging obstacles along the way while they had a straight path back to their vehicle," Sharon said to reassure him.

"I still could've caught them. I disappointed you," he mumbled as he looked at her. "You didn't disappoint me," Sharon tried to tell him. She lifted his chin with her free hand and they looked at each other. "What was your number one priority today?" she asked him. "Making sure Matthew was okay," he muttered. "Right, and you did, you protected him, you kept him safe," she said as she moved her hand to his cheek and gently caressed it.

"Tomorrow, when we get in to work, if the fingerprint system is still down, I would like you to sit down with a sketch artist and describe the two male suspects so we could at least get that circulating around," Sharon said. "Sure, I can do that," Andy said to her as they stood in the kitchen.

"Mom?" Matthew said, as he sat at the table, tapping his pencil against the paper he was working on. He looked over at them standing in the kitchen, he didn't understand what conversation they were having but his adopted parents looked worried. "Mom?" he called her again and Sharon turned to look at Matthew. "What is it sweetie?" she said as she walked over to him. "I can't figure this problem out," he said, almost frustrated.

Sharon sat down next to him and he showed her the math problem he was working on. "Okay, well let's take a look at this together," Sharon said to him as she read the word problem. Andy watched Sharon try to help Matthew solve his homework problem for a little bit before he retreated into the den to make a phone call.

"Flynn, what's going on? Everything okay there?" Provenza said as he answered his phone. "Everything's fine," he chuckled at the concern that his partner had. "I just wanted to discuss with you what happened this morning here," Andy said to him as he sat down on the chair. "Well, she told you that we couldn't run the fingerprints today, right?" he said. "Yeah, I heard. Something about the system being down and it won't be back up till tomorrow morning," Andy said as he rubbed his eyes. "So, Sharon mentioned the possibility of this not being a random encounter?" Andy stated, hoping Provenza would provide a little more insight to this.

"Well, I'm leaning towards that, but I'm not sure what the Commander thinks," Provenza said. "You know, we're off the clock, would it kill you to call her Sharon?" Andy asked him as he shook his head. "I only called her that once, when you were in the hospital and she was waiting to hear about you," Provenza stated. Andy sighed at that moment. "Fine," he muttered into the phone. "So what do you think?" Andy asked. "The thing is, Flynn, that there was no other reports about two guys wearing uniforms from the electrical company breaking into yards or homes anywhere else in LA, in the past six months," Provenza said.

"So you think we were targeted then?" Andy asked him as Moxie walked up to where Andy was sitting and sat down next to him. Andy reached down and started to pet him while he was still on the phone with Provenza. "Possibly, but we don't know for sure because we don't know who these guys are," Provenza said. "Yeah, yeah," Andy said, defeated. He hated not knowing who these people were and what their motive was. If there was truly someone after them, it wouldn't be the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last. "Flynn, I got to go. Patrice is calling me. I'll see you tomorrow," Provenza said. "Yeah, good night," Andy said and then hung up his phone.

He looked down at Moxie. "We've got to keep everyone here safe, Moxie," he said to the dog and Moxie wagged his tail as Andy stood up. He followed him back into the kitchen and Sharon was still sitting there going over the math problems with Matthew. "Alright, pack up everything, put your homework back in your folder, and place it in your backpack," she said to Matthew as he stood up from the table. "Okay," Matthew said as he did so.

Matthew did so and then afterwards, went upstairs to play in his room. Moxie followed him up there. Sharon leaned back on the kitchen chair and closed her eyes. Andy walked over to her and started to massage her shoulders. She hummed in response. "You're tense," he whispered in her ear. "I had a tense day," she said to him. "Sorry," he said as he continued to massage her shoulders. "So, do you think those guys were hired by someone?" he asked her as his hands dipped lower on her collar bone. She sighed as he did that. "Maybe," she responded and then he felt her relax further into the chair and enjoyed the massage Andy was giving her.

Hours later, they had tucked Matthew in his bed and said good night to him. Sharon had fallen asleep on their bed, while waiting for Andy to be finished in their bathroom. He had told her to go first and she did, getting ready for bed and changing into her nightgown. When she was done, Andy had gone into the bathroom to get himself ready for bed. When he came out, he saw that Sharon was already asleep, but he wasn't tired.

He made his way downstairs and sat at the desk in the den. If his encounter with the two guys posing as utility workers was in fact a targeted hit, then who could be behind it? Andy sat there with some paper in front of him and he was jotting down some notes as he thought about the situation. Provenza seemed pretty convinced that this was not random. Sharon did too. The list of their possible enemies was too long to write out. All of their convictions, all of their dealings in their combined careers would bring them an endless list of names.

Sharon woke up some hours later and noticed that Andy was not in bed with her. She sat up and looked around their room, but there was no sign of him. She decided to get out of bed and go looking for him. She wrapped her robe around her body and stepped out of their room. Matthew's door was shut, but she decided to open it slightly to see if he might have been in there. She saw Matthew sleeping and Moxie right by his side, but no Andy. She then closed the door and headed towards the stairs. She saw a light on in the den and knew that he must have been in there.

She padded down the stairs and slowly walked over to the den. Andy was sitting there at the desk, writing some things down on a piece of paper. "Andy?" she said a little louder than a whisper. Her voice brought Andy from his thoughts as he glanced up and saw her standing at the doorway, with her robe on. He leaned back in his chair and invited her to sit with him. "How long have you been down here?" she asked him as she sat down in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her holding her to him. Andy glanced at the clock to see what time it was. It was well past midnight. He didn't realize he had been down there that long.

"A couple hours," he said as she looked over what he had been writing down. "I've been trying to write down who we have dealt with in the past that would want some sort of revenge or something on us, if everyone's theory is right. The list is getting to be too long," Andy explained to her as she started to read some names. She shook her head and placed the sheet of paper back down on the desk and turned in Andy's arm so that she faced him. She looked into his eyes and could tell that he was tired. She leaned in and kissed him. "Come back to bed with me," she whispered as they broke apart.

Sharon stood up from Andy and held out her hand for him to take. He stood up from the chair and held her hand as she led him back upstairs to their room. Andy closed the door behind them and followed Sharon back into their bed. He laid down next to her and she rested her head against his chest, his arms holding her close. She closed her eyes, but before she drifted back to sleep, she whispered, "I love you". "I love you too," he whispered to her as he ran his fingers up and down her arm. It wasn't too long after that he also closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, ready for whatever the next day might bring them.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you for the great reviews on this story! I really appreciate it! Keep them coming! In this chapter, the words in italics represent Andy thinking back to his dream he had the night before. Thank you!

Chapter 14

The next morning, Andy was already up and in the shower by the time Sharon woke up from her alarm going off. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed. Glancing over at the clock, she reached out to shut off the offending alarm. She then heard the water running in the shower and looked over at Andy's side of the bed. It hardly looked slept in at all. She sighed as she thought about him not being able to sleep.

She got up off of the bed and made her way to their bathroom, opening the door so that she fit through and then closing it behind her. Andy was still in the shower as she quickly undressed herself and joined him. She slipped her arms around his chest and placed a kiss on his back as the water cascaded around them. "Good morning," he said in a gruff voice. "Morning," she said closing her eyes as she placed another kiss on his shoulder. "How long have you been up?" she asked as he turned around to face her in the shower.

It turned out that Andy didn't get much sleep the past night. He had slept for a couple of hours, holding her close to him during the night after she had gone downstairs to bring him up, but besides that, he had been up earlier than normal. "A couple hours," he said as he leaned down to kiss her. "Was your shoulder bothering you?" she asked him, knowing that he still had lingering pain from getting shot. Sharon noticed that his scar on his left shoulder was a little red, not the pink color it had been. "No, I just kept thinking about everything," Andy said, giving her a vague answer. She leaned in and kissed his shoulder, knowing that in time, she would eventually get Andy to tell her the real reason he hadn't slept. They continued to shower together and then, the both of them got dressed.

Andy had picked out a purple tie along with purple suspenders when Sharon came back into their bedroom. He was just finishing tying his tie when she walked in front of him and played with it. "I like purple on you," she said to him, smiling. He grinned. "Well, I like purple on you as well," he said to her as he ran his hands up and down her side. She was wearing a purple skirt suit with a cream colored shirt underneath her jacket. They finished getting ready and Andy then went to wake up Matthew.

Sharon was downstairs watching the morning local news by the time Andy and Matthew came down. "Everything okay?" she asked as Matthew trudged into the kitchen. Andy nodded to her as he grabbed a glass of orange juice. "He's a little cranky this morning because he didn't want to go to school today," Andy whispered to Sharon. "Oh, I see," Sharon said as she watched Matthew sit down at the table with his box of cereal. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked Matthew as she walked towards the table. "Yes," Matthew mumbled as he poured his cereal in a bowl.

"A couple more weeks of school and then you'll be on summer vacation!" Sharon said to him as she tried cheering him up. "Which then means little league starts," Andy chimed in. At the mention of that, Matthew perked up. Sharon smiled as she looked at Andy. Andy caught her eye and smiled back at her.

After dropping off Matthew at his school and making sure that everything was good there, Andy and Sharon then dropped Moxie off at the doggie day care place. As they were on their way towards the PAB, traffic started to crawl on the 101 the closer they got to Downtown. Sharon took this opportunity to ask Andy about his shoulder.

"Matthew told me last night that the two of you played catch in the backyard yesterday," Sharon said to Andy as they were at a standstill with traffic. "Yes, we did. One of these days, we need to go buy him the things he needs for little league," he said as traffic started to crawl again. "Hmm, we could do that," Sharon said as she grabbed his right hand that was on the gear shifter and intertwined her fingers with his. "So why couldn't you sleep?" she asked him as she glanced at him from the passenger seat. Andy sighed. He knew that she wouldn't let this go.

Truth was that he had a dream, but it was more like a nightmare, that had woken him up from sleep.

 _He had dreamt that those two guys came back, but this time they had somehow gotten into the house and overpowered him. One of them had grabbed Matthew, while the other one dug his fingers into Andy's shoulder. That had woken him up, sweating, and in pain. He had glanced over at Sharon, who was still sleeping on her side. He had caught his breath and looked at the clock in their room. It was 4:15 in the morning. Their alarm wouldn't be going off for another two hours._

 _Andy had gotten out of bed without disturbing Sharon. He had thrown on a pair of shorts over his boxers and walked out of their room. He peeked his head inside Matthew's room and made sure he was ok before he headed downstairs. He used the bathroom down there because he didn't want to wake Sharon as she needed her rest. He looked at himself in the mirror and saw that his scar on his left shoulder was a little red for some reason. It wasn't hurting so he shook it off and went into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and quickly gulped it down._

"Andy?" Sharon worried as he zoned out. Andy glanced back at her. He then noticed the cars starting to move forward so he did as well. "I had a bad dream, that's all," he finally answered her. "What was it about?" she asked him. "I dreamt those two guys came back, but this time they made it into the house. One guy got Matthew while the other guy dug his finger into my shoulder" Andy said, and slightly shook his head at the thought.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Sharon asked as she gently squeezed his right hand she was holding. "You looked peaceful, and besides, you needed your rest," he explained to her as traffic started to move again. "That's why your scar was red this morning," she said quietly but he still heard her. "You saw that?" he said and she nodded. "In the shower," she answered his question without him asking. Traffic was slow but moving the rest of the way in to work.

Meanwhile, in the Murder Room, Provenza was already sitting at his desk when Mike walked in. "You're here early," he said to Provenza as he walked over to his desk. "I wanted to be in before the Commander and Flynn got here, in case the fingerprints came back," Provenza explained as he worked on his crossword puzzle. Mike laughed. "Well, I'd have to see if they fixed the system first," he said as he turned on his computer screen and sat down.

One by one the rest of the team showed up, with Sharon and Andy being the last to arrive. "Morning everyone," Sharon said as she made her way to her office. Andy watched her walk in front of him towards her office before he walked over to Mike's desk. "Hey, did the prints come back yet?" he asked Mike. "The system is up and running, so we should see in a few minutes," Mike said as he crossed his fingers for effect. "Sir, I take it Matthew is feeling better then?" Julio asked as Andy made his way across the room to his desk. "Yes, he is. Thanks for asking," Andy replied as he sat down.

Sharon then came out of her office and walked over to the Murder Board. Provenza straightened up in his chair and placed his crossword puzzle back in his desk drawer. "Commander, I think we got a hit!" Mike called out. Andy stood up and walked over to Mike's desk. Sharon joined him as they both looked over Mike's shoulder. "Henry Dexter is one of the prints, Commander," Mike explained as Provenza moved his chair closer to Mike's desk.

"Is that one of the guys that tried breaking into your yard, Andy?" Mike asked him as Andy looked at the picture in front of him on the computer screen. "Yeah, that's one of them," Andy replied as he scratched his head. Mike hit the print button on the screen and it printed out a picture of Henry Dexter. Julio stood up and walked over to the printer to pick it up. Mike then leaned over to place some coins into the jar that Provenza was now holding up.

"Okay, so now we know who one of them is. What about the second one, Mike?" Sharon said as she folded her arms in front of her. If almost on cue, another alert and hit popped up on Mike's computer screen. "I think we're about to find out, Commander," Mike said as he clicked on another box on the screen. "Marvin Dudley," Mike stated as another picture came into view. "That's the other guy, except he didn't have a beard, but that's definitely him," Andy said as he pointed to the screen. "You sure?" Sharon asked him as she turned around. "Oh yes, I'm sure," Andy said as he stared at the picture.

Mike hit the print button again and deposited more coins into Provenza's jar. "Do any of these men have any priors?" Sharon asked as she moved back to the Murder Board. "Marvin Dudley has been convicted before of petty theft, kidnapping, breaking and entering, the list goes on," Julio stated. "Any time served?" Provenza asked. "Just three months in County jail, sir," Julio answered him. "What about Mr. Henry Dexter?" Sharon asked as she stood in front of her squad.

"Mr. Dexter has a lot of priors as well from theft to attempted murder," Amy stated and everyone looked at her when she said the last part. "Attempted murder?" Sharon repeated in question. "He served jail time for that charge and then was released after five months when his lawyer appealed," Amy stated as she read his rap sheet. "The charges were dropped," she added as she looked up at Sharon and then Andy.

"Last known addresses?" Sharon asked as she walked around the room to stand next to Andy. "Marvin here resides near Mariposa and 5th Street, according to his driver's license," Mike stated. "That's in the Wilshire District," Andy stated as he glanced at Sharon. "What about Henry?" she asked. "Looks like he resides at the same address," Mike stated as he pulled up Henry's driver's license information. "How dated is that info, Tao?" Julio asked as he stood up from his desk. "Both of their licenses were issued last month," Mike said.

"What are the odds that these two dirt bags are still living there?" Andy asked. "I'll send these pictures to patrol, make sure the word gets out that we are looking for them, Commander," Mike said to Sharon as he started to send a mass email to the patrol division of the LAPD. "Good, thank you Lieutenant," Sharon said. "Meanwhile, we need to figure out how these two know each other," she stated and then headed to her office. "We're not gonna go look for them at their address?" Andy asked her as she walked away. "Patrol can do that Andy, besides, this isn't technically our case yet," she answered and then closed her door behind her. Andy shook his head but didn't understand why Sharon wouldn't want to go find these guys who tried breaking into their house. He returned to his desk and sat down.

Meanwhile, the now identified Dudley and Dexter were driving the same utility car they were in yesterday. "I think we should have gotten rid of this car, Henry, it's too hot," Marvin stated as Henry looked out the window as they pulled up to their destination. They drove through Downtown LA. "Would you relax? If the cops knew about us and this car, they would have picked us up already," Henry stated to him as they parked and got out of the car. They walked into the nearby Starbucks and Henry ordered his coffee while Marvin sat down at the counter by the window.

Just then he saw two police officers pull up behind the car they had stolen and they got out of the police car. Marvin started to panic as he glanced between the officers and Henry waiting in line still. Marvin stood up and walked over to Henry as he placed his order. "We have a problem," Marvin said to him. Henry turned around as he followed Marvin's eyes to the two officers who walked in the Starbucks.

One of the officers glanced at his phone which gave him the updated alert that Mike had sent out. He glanced at his partner and then at the utility vehicle outside. He then glanced around the Starbucks and found two guys acting suspicious as one of them waited for their coffee order. "Jeff," the officer said to his partner and then showed him the message he received on his phone. Jeff looked at the phone and then realized the same thing. They nodded to each other and approached the two guys from opposite ends, making sure that they had cut off the exit.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. You waiting for some coffee as well?" Jeff asked Marvin and Henry as he approached them. "Hello Officers, yes, can't go through our day without one!" Henry answered as he turned around to look at them. Jeff recognized the picture of Henry from the email. "I think you two need to come with us," Jeff stated to them and Henry looked at Marvin. They could not run away as the other officer was blocking them. Henry then closed his eyes. "Turn around, you both are wanted for questioning," Jeff said and they followed directions from the officer.

Patrol had called it in to the main station and about ten minutes later, they relayed the call to Provenza's desk. He answered his phone and took down what the operator had told him. "Really? At a Starbucks no less?" Provenza chuckled. "Okay, thank you," he added and then hung up. "Commander?" he said calling Sharon out of her office. "What is it Lieutenant?" Sharon said as she walked out. "That was patrol from Downtown. Apparently, our two guys were just picked up at a Starbucks by a couple of officers. They're going to bring them up here to our offices since they knew we wanted to question them," Provenza explained to Sharon and everyone else on the team.

"Sounds like we are going to find out their connection sooner rather than later," Amy said to the group just as the patrol officers brought Marvin and Henry into the Murder Room. Sharon nodded to the two officers and then motioned for Julio and Mike to take Marvin into interview room one. Mike and Julio showed the officer where to bring Marvin. Provenza glanced at Andy and knew that Sharon wouldn't want him interviewing Henry so he stood up from his desk and Amy did as well. He gestured for Amy to show the other officer where to go and she led them to interview room two.

Andy stood up and started to join Provenza but Sharon grabbed his arm. "You can't interview them," she said to him. "Why not?" he asked her. "Because, you are our witness in this case and I can't have a witness interviewing a suspect," Sharon said to him and his shoulders dropped in defeat. He knew she was right, but still, he didn't want to be on the sidelines. "Come on, let's see what our two suspects have to say," Sharon said as she grabbed his hand and tugged him with her towards electronics.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 15

Mike and Julio walked into the interview room and noticed that Marvin was sitting slouched down in the seat across from them. Julio slammed his fist on the table, and startled Marvin that he jumped slightly in his chair. "Hey! You want to sit up and show some respect?" Julio stated loudly to him. Marvin sat up in his chair as Mike and Julio sat down across from him. "Why am I here?" Marvin asked them. "Well, it seems that you haven't been a good boy since you got out of prison, Marvin," Mike started to say to him.

"What do you mean?" Marvin asked. "What we mean is that you have been caught doing a lot of things since you served time in county, Marvin," Julio said to him and Marvin got quiet. "Now we know that you are involved in some sort of partnership with Henry Dexter," Mike stated. "Who?" Marvin said and Julio again slammed his fist on the table which caused Marvin to jump again. "Don't play games with us!" Julio yelled. "Alright, alright. Whatever you are looking for, Henry knows everything, he's the one that dealt with the person that hired us," Marvin started to talk but then realized he said too much.

Sharon and Andy watched the monitors from electronics and things unfolded with Marvin. "Hired? Who hired them?" Andy asked as they watched. "And to do what, exactly?" Sharon added as Buzz glanced at her.

Meanwhile, Provenza and Amy weren't having any luck with Henry in the other interview room. "I'm not saying anything until I get a lawyer," Henry stated to them. "That's fine and dandy, Henry, however, technically you're not under arrest, yet," Provenza stated to him. "I still want a lawyer," Henry insisted as he poked the top of the table to add emphasis. Amy heard Buzz's voice come through her earpiece. "His partner is singing like a canary," Buzz said to Amy and she understood.

"That's funny, Henry, because Marvin, you're partner, is cooperating with the other two detectives and I'd hate to see him get the deal before you have your chance to say something," Amy said to Henry. He looked at her from across the table and sat in silence for a moment. "You can invoke your rights at any time, Henry. All we need is some questions answered," Provenza explained to him. "Now, you can either cooperate with us, like Marvin is, or sit down in holding for twenty-four hours while someone named Bubba makes you his number one friend," Amy said and Henry shifted in his seat. "Fine," he said to them.

"I knew you'd see things our way, Henry," Provenza said. "Now, we know you were caught trying to break into the backyard of two police officers," he stated as Henry looked at them. "We couldn't break in because the gate was locked," Henry explained. "Right, so you tried but failed," Provenza said. "Why did you do that, or attempt to do that?" he asked further. Henry knew they were both done for at this point. He knew he could at least get the protection of the police if he confessed. That way the person that hired them wouldn't be able to reach them, at least he hoped.

"Someone wants revenge on your Captain," Henry muttered, loud enough that both Provenza and Amy heard him. Provenza sat back in his chair. "Revenge?" Provenza said and Henry nodded. Sharon looked at the computer screen and then felt Andy place his hand on her shoulder. "We don't," Amy started to say but Provenza stopped her from continuing. "It's okay, Sykes," he said as he turned to Henry. "Now, why don't you tell us who this person is that wants revenge on our Captain," Provenza stated.

"Whoever it is, they don't know you made Commander," Andy stated as the three of them continued to watch in electronics. Sharon sat there in silence, wondering who could want revenge on her. She didn't believe it yesterday when the team, especially Provenza had brought it up as a motive, but hearing it come from one of their suspect's mouth brought a totally different perspective to her.

"Let's talk more about this person who hired you and Henry, Marvin," Mike stated to him as they continued to sit in the interview room. "I don't know anything about that, I never met them or spoke to them. Henry did all the talking," Marvin stated, nervous as anything. "Why are you so nervous?" Julio asked him. "Because, I overheard Henry speaking to the person on the phone yesterday. They didn't sound too happy with what happened," Marvin said as he twiddled his fingers.

"How did you and Henry meet?" Mike asked him. "We met at county, he was in for something and I was serving my 30 day sentence," Marvin stated. "So how did you come about trying to break in to the house you guys were at yesterday?" Mike asked him. "Like I said before, Henry knows all the details, I just went along with him because we are friends," Marvin said. "Friends? More like accomplices from how it looks to us!" Julio stated as he looked at Marvin.

"We didn't do anything, the guy stopped us yesterday and we ran away!" Marvin said. "Oh but you did, Marvin. You see, that's attempted breaking and entering. You had your little bag of tools with you and you were caught in the commission of a crime," Mike told him. Marvin then placed his hands on his head and leaned on the table. "No, no, no, I told Henry it was a bad idea to go after a cop," he muttered as he shook his head.

"Before we go any further with these interviews, they need to be read their Miranda rights," Sharon said as she continued to watch things unfold in electronics. Andy was standing right behind her. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing. "Okay Marvin, before you go on, we need to remind you of your rights," Mike stated and they continued to speak to Marvin after he was read Miranda.

Meanwhile, back in the room with Henry, Provenza and Amy tried to get more information on the person that hired Henry and Marvin. "I'm going to remind you of your rights, Henry, and then we want the truth about this person who hired you," Provenza stated and then Amy read him his rights. "Do you wave your rights?" Provenza asked. "Yes," Henry stated. "Good, so tell us about this person who hired you," he asked. "I don't know much about them," Henry started to say. "How did they contact you?" he asked. "When I was in county, I received a note from someone that wanted to speak to me about a possible job they had," Henry stated.

"They knew about my arrests in the past, especially the attempted murder one that my lawyer appealed, and said that they could help get me back on my feet after I got out," Henry stated as Provenza and Amy listened. "Did you ever meet this person?" Amy asked. "No," Henry said. "How did they contact you then?" Amy asked. "Over the phone," he said. "Did you get a name or a phone number?" Provenza asked him. "No," Henry stated. Provenza looked at Amy and then looked at the camera.

"We're not getting anywhere with this guy!" Andy said, disgusted. He needed to stay calm for Sharon but there was a part of him that wanted to walk through the door of both interview rooms and just wring the necks of these two idiots. He had wished that he had caught them when they ran yesterday from him, since now he knew that they were hired by someone seeking revenge on Sharon. He had to remember to breathe so that she wouldn't worry about him on top of everything else.

"I want a deal," Henry said. Provenza looked at him. "A deal? What kind of deal do you want?" Provenza said as he shifted in his chair. "Oh, I know. How bout the kind of deal where I arrest you for making threats to a police officer, harming them and their family by attempting to break into their house?" Provenza continued. "Or better yet, conspiracy to commit a heinous crime against an officer?" Amy chimed in. "What? I didn't do that!" Henry protested. "We don't know what you did or didn't do, Henry!" Amy stated and Henry shifted in his chair.

"So you knew you were breaking into a police officer's home?" Mike asked Marvin. "Yes, that's what Henry said the person wanted us to do," Marvin said. "And what were you supposed to do then, after breaking into the house?" Julio asked him. "Henry said the person wanted us to take something from them," Marvin said. "What kind of something?" Julio asked further. "I don't know," Marvin muttered. "What do you mean you don't know?" Julio said as Marvin stared at him.

"I don't know what they wanted us to take, that was all Henry, ask him!" Marvin said as he pleaded with them. "Did Henry ever mention who this person was?" Mike asked but Marvin shook his head no. Mike could tell that they weren't going to get anything more from Marvin. "Stay here, we'll be back," Mike said as he stood up and Julio followed him out of the room. They made their way back to electronics to regroup.

"Sharon?" Andy called her name as she stared at the screen that had Henry's face on it. These two men were not connected to her, but the person that hired them was somehow. She couldn't put her finger on it. Andy called her name a second time and she then turned around to look at him. "Sorry, I," she started to say but then Mike walked into electronics and Julio followed him. "Commander, we are not getting anywhere with Marvin," Mike said to Sharon as she turned around to face them.

"Right," Sharon said as she looked between the monitors. "They're not having any luck with Henry either," she said to them. "Yeah, this dirt bag wants a deal," Andy huffed in disgust as he folded his arms in front of him and sat down on the back chair. "What do we know about them besides their arrest records? Do we know anything else about these two?" Sharon asked them.

"More importantly, ma'am, sir, what were they supposed to take from your house?" Julio stated as he looked at Sharon and Andy. Sharon turned around to face Andy. "When did these first occurrences start?" Sharon asked. Andy looked at her and replied. "When we were at Disneyland". "Right, when Rusty took Moxie out that morning and the gate was left open and Moxie ran down the block," Sharon said as she went through her thought process in her head.

"They could have been watching our house starting who knows when," Andy said. "Right, let's see if Marvin knows when," she said to Julio and Mike. "We'll ask him that," Mike said and proceeded to head back into the interview room that Marvin was waiting in. "The scary thing is they could have been watching us there since the day we moved in," Andy said to Sharon. "I don't think it was that long ago," she replied. "We would have noticed them, in fact, you noticed them yesterday. And didn't you say Matthew noticed that car parked on the street before we went to Disneyland?" she added. "That's what he said," Andy muttered and then watched Mike ask Marvin in the interview room.

"Marvin, how long were you scoping out the Captain's house before yesterday?" Mike asked as he stood in the interview room. Julio was leaning up against the wall in the room. "Two weeks," Marvin answered. "You were parked outside the house for two weeks?" Mike asked in disbelief. "No, we weren't parked outside the house for two weeks. We would drive by there, making sure no one was home; we did a couple of passes here and there. I think that's why the boss was so mad at us over the phone when she called Henry," Marvin went on a rant explaining.

"She?" Andy said in electronics as he watched. Sharon took a deep breath when she heard that as well. "Excuse me Marvin, did you just say, she was mad at you?" Mike stated Marvin's words back to him. Marvin realized his slip at that moment. "Ah, maybe, I don't remember," Marvin said as he squirmed in his chair.

"Oh, come on! Is this guy an idiot or what?" Andy said and Sharon shook her head. "So, now all of a sudden he forgets what he just said?" he added. Sharon was silent throughout this revelation that their boss could be a woman. Andy realized he didn't get a response from Sharon. He sighed and stepped over to her. "Hey, we can at least narrow down the list of people now," he said to her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his hand.

"Buzz, tell them that we know about a woman being the boss and see how Henry reacts to that bit of news," Sharon said as she sat there and waited. Buzz turned on the microphone. "The Commander wants you to mention their boss being a woman, Marvin stated that," Buzz spoke to Amy through her ear piece. Amy received the message and nodded.

"So Henry, you want a deal, but we already know who your boss is," Amy stated to him. "How do you know that?" he asked. Amy looked at Provenza. "Because Marvin told the other detectives about her," she stated. Henry sat back and shook his head. "Idiot!" he mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. "Alright, this woman gets in touch with me while I was at county. I don't know her name, by the way, and she wanted me to do her a favor, and she would compensate me very nicely after the job was done," Henry stated. "Did you get a good look at her?" Provenza asked him. "We never met face to face," Henry answered.

Sharon started to stand up from her chair in electronics and Andy held it out for her. "Arrest them for whatever we can hold them on for now while we try to figure out, who could be behind all of this," Sharon said to Andy and then walked out the door. Buzz glanced up at Andy. Andy then made his way to the interview room where Marvin was located. He opened the door and then whispered something into Mike's ear. Mike nodded and then moved closer to Marvin. "Stand up Marvin!" he said to him and Marvin did so. Julio grabbed a hold of Marvin and Mike handcuffed him. "You're under arrest for trespassing, among other things," Mike started to say to Marvin as they walked him out.

Andy then walked over to the other interview room where Henry was sitting and he opened the door. He nodded to Provenza and he stood up along with Amy. "Alright Henry, you're going to have to wait for your deal some other time," Andy said to him as he grabbed a hold of Henry and stood him up. "You're under arrest, dirt bag," Andy said as he gritted his teeth and placed his handcuffs on him. Amy then took custody of Henry and walked him out to booking.

"How is she?" Provenza asked Andy as they walked out of the interview room. "I don't know. She's stoic right now," Andy replied to him. They both walked into the Murder Room and saw Sharon standing in her office looking over some files. "We need to figure out who this person is, for both of your sakes," Provenza said as they walked towards Sharon's office.

The door was open so they entered slowly. "Commander?" Provenza said clearing his throat. Sharon looked up from the file she was reading. "Both Henry and Marvin are on their way down to booking. Mike's going to take care of both," Provenza stated. "Good," Sharon said as she closed the file she was reading. "We need to figure out who can be behind this. And if what they said was true, we need to focus on all the women I have pissed off over the past years," Sharon told them.

"Well, one thing is for sure, they don't know you're Commander now," Provenza stated as he grabbed a file and handed one to Andy. "Right, Lieutenant. Which narrows the playing field to about everybody," Sharon sighed as she went through another file. Andy observed Sharon as she went to go sit behind her desk to go through the files. He sat down at the small table in her office. She wasn't going to show her emotions here at the office. Very rarely did he see that. It was when they would get home later tonight that she would allow herself to break down.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 16

As the three of them sat there in her office going through file by file of the cases that she was involved with, they made three different stacks. One stack had cases that involved women as the main suspect. This was the stack that they needed to concentrate on since both Henry and Marvin confirmed a woman was the one who hired them. By the time the rest of the team came back up from booking, they were ready to go through those files.

Amy, Julio, and Mike entered Sharon's office and Provenza looked over at them. "Grab a file from this stack and go through it," he told them and they did. "What are we looking for?" Amy asked. "Find out who the suspect was in the case, what their sentencing was, type of crime, and if they are still in jail," Provenza explained. "We can assume that this individual served time in jail but is now out," he added as he turned to Sharon. Sharon looked up from the file she was reading and agreed with him.

Mike, Amy, and Julio each grabbed a file and went out to their desks to go through them. "How many files do we have?" Andy asked as he finished the file he had. Provenza glanced at the stack. "Probably a million," he muttered. "Commander, you sure knew how to piss off people back in the day," he added as he read one of Sharon's old FID cases. Sharon glared at him for a moment. Andy saw this and decided to jump in. "Hey!" Andy said to him. "What?" Provenza asked. Andy looked at him in. "It's okay Andy, I'm sure the Lieutenant didn't mean anything by that comment and besides, he is right. I did piss off a lot of people when I was in charge of FID," Sharon said as she looked at both of her Lieutenants.

Sharon continued to go through another file as Andy stared at Provenza. Provenza felt his glare on him as he gave him a side glance and then ignored him as he read another file. They ended up going through about 50 case files that Sharon was involved with, all women suspects. Amy started writing down some information from the files they went through on the Murder Board. Some names stood out as other names didn't.

Sharon stood in front of the board and looked over the different names. "The problem here Commander, is that we are not even sure that it's someone from your past," Provenza chimed in as Amy continued to write on the board. "We have to start somewhere Lieutenant, and our two subjects didn't really give us much to go on," Sharon said as her arms were crossed in front of her.

Mike had been busy going through the cell phone that belonged to Henry, trying to locate a possible number from the person that hired them. "Henry said that this person called him directly, right?" Mike said to the group. "Yes, why Mike? You got something?" Andy asked as he walked over to Mike's desk. Sharon watched them interact. "Well, I may have found the number that called him," Mike started to explain. "You see, all these numbers on the recent call log in his phone, go back to establishments, businesses, or other people," Mike added as he pointed out the numbers to Andy. "This particular number here does not. It comes back as unlisted," Mike concluded.

"Plenty numbers are unlisted, Tao," Julio chimed in and Mike leaned back in his chair to look at him. "Yeah, but, how many unlisted numbers keep calling Henry from the same phone number?" Mike said. Sharon walked over to them. "The same number called Henry how many times, Mike?" Sharon asked him. Andy watched her as she joined them. "Ah, within a month's period, looks like 20 times," Mike answered.

"Any chance of tracing the number to a location?" Sharon asked him. Mike stared at the screen for a minute. "I might be able to Commander, I don't know if I can pinpoint it exactly," Mike stated. "Try it and have Buzz help you," Sharon said. Mike stood up and signaled Buzz to follow him into the RACR room.

Sharon then glanced at the clock and saw that it was way past the time to leave. They must have lost track of time when they were going through those files. She turned to the rest of the team. "I can't authorize overtime for this until we have something concrete. Head home and we'll pick up fresh tomorrow," Sharon said as everyone watched her. Provenza started to object to her dismissal but Sharon beat him to it. "That's an order, Lieutenant," she said to him and then returned to her office.

Provenza walked over to Andy. "Aren't you concerned?" he asked him. "Of course I'm concerned," Andy said to him as he watched Sharon in her office. "But, she gave us an order," Andy added as he looked back at Provenza. "Since when do you follow orders?" Provenza asked him. Andy huffed as Provenza stood in front of him. "Look, we have nothing to go on, plus she doesn't want a protection detail. You and I both know that from previous experience with Rusty and the letters they both received," Andy said.

"We didn't listen to her back then, she had a detail whether she knew it or not," Provenza said as the two of them walked over to the RACR room. "Yeah, well that was easier because I was her detail back then, and Julio watched the condo building," Andy said as he opened the door. The two of them walked in to join Buzz and Mike. "Uh, sorry guys but Sharon ordered everyone to go home, no overtime authorized yet and it's after 5 o'clock already," Andy said to Buzz and Mike.

Mike looked at Buzz and then back at the two of them. "I won't say anything if you guys don't. Besides, I have a new program that might help us find the location of the phone number quicker," Mike said. Andy grimaced at the thought of Sharon finding out and yelling at him about it. "Fine, Flynn will take the Commander home, while the rest of us slowly leave the office," Provenza said. "Yeah and what if she finds out that all of you are staying here?" Andy said to them. "How is she going to find out?" Provenza asked and Andy stared at him. "Are you forgetting who we are dealing with?" Andy said.

Ten minutes later, Sharon walked out of her office and was met by Andy. "Ready to go?" he said as he glanced around the room. No one was in the office at that moment. "Did everyone else leave?" she asked him. "Um, I think so," he said to her as he grabbed her bag for her and noticed that it was heavy. "What did you put in your bag, rocks?" he chuckled as they walked into the hallway towards the elevators. Andy kept glancing around to make sure that they didn't run into the rest of the team. "I may have brought some files that stood out. I wanted to go over them again," Sharon told him as she pressed the button for the elevator.

He grabbed her hand as they both stepped inside and waited for the doors to close. "Sharon?" he said as the elevator took them to the parking garage. "Hmm?" she said. "You know I hate dealing with psychopaths that want their revenge on you, right?" he said as they stepped off into the garage. She squeezed his hand a little tighter and glanced at him. "I know," she said to him as they walked towards their car.

"When are you going to tell Chief Mason about this?" Andy asked as he held her door open and she got into the car. "Tomorrow, when we have something more. I want to see if Mike can pinpoint that phone number," she said and then realized something. "Oh no, did someone tell him and Buzz that they could go home?" she asked him as he sat in the driver's seat. He started the car. "Um, yeah, I mentioned it to him," Andy said and then backed the car out of the spot.

Sharon looked out the window as Andy drove them to pick Matthew up. "I don't want to tell the kids about this yet, because I don't want them to worry, especially Matthew with everything that he's gone through," she said to him as he turned down another street. "Fine," Andy huffed as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

They both went inside to pick Matthew up from school. A couple of minutes later, all three of them walked out of the building towards their car. Matthew was talking about the day he had. "So we had a firefighter come to our classroom to talk about all the wildfires that are occurring in the area," he said as he got into the back seat of the car. "Oh really?" Sharon said as she smiled when Matthew spoke. "And how sometimes nature can start the fire but a majority of the time, it's people that start them," he continued.

Andy then drove them to home, stopping first to pick up Moxie. "What would you like for dinner?" Sharon asked Andy and Matthew as Andy pulled into the driveway. "Spaghetti!" Matthew said as Andy parked the car and turned it off. "We had spaghetti last night," Sharon said as she climbed out of the car. "I could make something on the grill if you want," Andy suggested as they all walked into the house.

Matthew ran ahead once inside the house and Moxie chased after him. Sharon placed her bag down on the kitchen floor and walked over to the island where she looked through the mail. Andy washed his hands at the kitchen sink and began preparing food for dinner. Although it had been a not so normal day with the revelation of someone wanting revenge on Sharon, the rest of the evening was somewhat typical for them.

After dinner was eaten and everything was put away, Sharon retreated to the den where she sat down at the desk and went over the case files she had brought home with her. These were the ones that stood out in her mind as being people with the most likelihood to hold a grudge against her personally.

Andy used this time to call Provenza up and see if they had gotten anywhere themselves after they left the office. "Hey," Andy said to him over the phone. "Hey yourself," Provenza replied. "So, did Mike find anything out about the phone number? Was he able to pinpoint it?" Andy asked him, barely above a whisper so Sharon couldn't hear him. He kept glancing down the hallway to see if she was coming.

"Yes, Mike was able to pinpoint it using that new program of his, but we need to wait till tomorrow morning to obtain a warrant to search the place. There were no available judges to get one tonight," Provenza explained. "Alright, let's just hope when we do get to search the location, the person is still there. See you tomorrow," Andy said and then hung up his phone. Sharon stepped into the kitchen just as Andy was hanging up his phone. "Who were you talking to?" she asked him as she grabbed a glass of water. "Provenza," he answered her. He wasn't lying to her as he did just hang up from him.

"Are you looking over those files you brought home?" Andy asked her as he watched Matthew at the kitchen table working on his homework. "I am," she said as she patted his shoulder as she walked back to the den. "You know I could help you," he called out to her. "I know," she replied as she walked back into the den.

Matthew looked up from his homework and saw Andy staring at the empty hallway. "Everything okay Dad?" he asked him. Andy turned around and sat down at the kitchen table next to him. "Yeah kid, everything is fine," he said to him. "I hope," he muttered under his breath. "So do you know anything about wildfires?" Matthew asked him as he continued with his homework. Andy looked at him and thought about the question.

"Yes, I do know a little about them. What's your question?" he said to Matthew. "Why would someone want to start them? I mean the firefighter today told us about how people can accidently start a fire but why would someone start it on purpose?" Matthew asked him. "Well, some people are just bad people and they do bad things like that," Andy explained and then noticed that Rusty was pulling up into the driveway. He half expected him to stop over for some dinner and sent him a text. 'There's leftover dinner here if you want it' his message said. He got a reply a couple of minutes later from Rusty. 'Thanks, but I ate already' it said.

"Did you ever arrest anyone who started a fire on purpose?" Matthew asked Andy as he continued to do his homework. "Yes," he said and thought about Croelick right away. He shook his head and leaned forward in his chair. "Let's get back to your homework," Andy said as he noticed Matthew had stopped doing his math homework sheet.

Meanwhile, Sharon continued to go over those cases in the den, making notes here and there about the different people involved in them. A couple of people she had dealt with in FID had been released recently, but the ones she was looking at no longer lived in the area of Los Angeles. She was fairly certain that this person was living close by. She placed another file that she looked at on the top of her desk, aside from the others. The name on that file stood out the most to her, but she decided to close the files for now. She then headed into the kitchen where she joined Andy and Matthew at the kitchen table. Andy smiled at her and she returned his smile.

Later, when Matthew was getting ready for bed, Sharon was in his room putting away his laundry. "You know he could do that, Sharon," Andy said to her from the doorway. She turned around and shrugged her shoulders. "I know but I want to do it," she said as she put the last shirt away in his dresser. Matthew then came back to his room and climbed into bed. "All of your homework is finished, right?" Andy asked him, making sure, and Matthew nodded in agreement.

"Alright kiddo, sweet dreams then," Andy said to him and tucked him in. Sharon did the same and they left his room and headed over to their room. Sharon knew that Andy wanted to talk to her again about this so-called revenge that was revealed today. Andy walked into the bathroom and watched Sharon get ready for bed.

"So, are we going to talk about this possible threat that's out there?" he asked her as he took his t-shirt off. Sharon watched him in the mirror and sighed. "We don't really know anything more about this person," she said to him. "Did you find anything in the files you brought home?" he asked her as he put on his pajama pants and walked over to the two sinks in the bathroom. She shrugged her shoulders. Sharon had just finished brushing her teeth when he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close to him.

"You know I worry about you and I want to help," he whispered into her ear. She smiled and looked at him in the mirror they were standing in front of. "I know," she said to him. "Then why don't you let me?" he asked her as he kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and hummed in response. "You have before," he added as he turned her around in his arms and looked into her eyes. She looked back at him, staring into his eyes.

"I don't want to be constantly having to have a protection detail because some person decides that they want their revenge on me, or you, or our family," she said to him as she placed her hands on his chest. "I know, it seems like we get rid of one psycho and another one pops up later on," he said as he chuckled even though he knew it wasn't funny. "Sorry," he said as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Let's go to bed and get a fresh start on everything tomorrow," Sharon said and then leaned up and kissed him.

She led him to their bed and they climbed in together. Andy wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. He knew the odds of both of them falling asleep right away were slim. She laid there awake as he held her. She knew that he wanted to help her so she thought she would tell him about one of the files she brought home. "Remember Ally Moore?" she said to him as they laid there. "Sure, the psychopath that killed her husband but staged it to look like self-defense," Andy said. Sharon was amazed that he remembered that case. "As I recall, she blamed you for butting into her business," he added as he traced his finger around her left wrist.

"She was released three months ago for good behavior," Sharon said. "Unbelievable," he muttered. They laid there in silence until he spoke again. "And you think she'd come after you?" he asked as he settled on his back and brought Sharon with him so that she was now lying on his right shoulder. "I ruined her life," she said and sighed into his chest. Andy remembered Ally Moore as a manipulative person that got another cop willing to cover for her killing her husband. Yes, they could definitely place her towards the top of their list.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 17

Ally Moore sat in her apartment where she had been staying ever since she was released from jail and was staring at the wall that faced the bed. On the wall were pictures of Sharon Raydor and Andy Flynn, although now it would be Sharon Flynn, as Ally had recently found out. "I can't believe you'd marry a subordinate officer, so un-professional of you, Sharon!" Ally said to no one but herself.

She got up and moved the covers off the bed and settled in. She decided that she would call Henry tomorrow and scare him up a little to maybe holding his end of the deal again. Otherwise, her plan would have to be done by herself, which she didn't mind but didn't want to give away too many things at once to Sharon.

While she was in prison, she had heard that her former Captain had taken over the Major Crimes squad and she knew from her experience dealing with them, they were a bunch of smart cops. Sooner or later they would catch up and discover that she wanted her revenge on her former Captain of FID. Revenge for ruining her plan initially. Revenge for humiliating her in front of other cops. Revenge for the nine years she had spent in jail.

Back across town, Andy had woken up to Sharon getting out of bed. "Where are you going?" he whispered to her which in turn, startled her. "The bathroom," she replied as she headed inside and closed the door. Andy laid back down and glanced at the clock. It was 2:30 in the morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep again for the second night in a row.

Sharon had stared at herself in the mirror. She ran some cool water and placed her hands under the faucet. She had woken up from a nightmare which left her uneasy and hot. She needed to cool herself off and the cool water helped. As she wiped her hands off with a towel, she wondered if they would ever get a break a just be able to relax and be a family without having to worry left and right about someone's health, or someone coming after them, or getting injured on the job.

She opened the bathroom door and turned the light off. She then made her way back towards the bed and noticed that Andy sat up against the headrest and the side lamp was on. She returned to bed and laid back down. "You okay?" he asked her as she scooted next to him. She sighed and muttered "Yes". Andy wrapped his right arm around her and held her in close to his side. "Want to talk about it?" he asked. "Talk about what?" she asked him as he rubbed her arm. "The nightmare that woke you up," he said simply.

Sharon didn't think she disturbed him while he was sleeping because she didn't remember screaming or anything like that in her nightmare. "How did you know?" Sharon said in a quieter voice. "It's 2:40 in the morning Sharon, you ran the water long in the bathroom sink to cool your hands and wrists off," Andy started to explain but Sharon stopped him by placing her finger over his lips.

"Okay, I get that you know me a little," Sharon whispered to him as he explained her routine whenever she woke up from a nightmare. Andy just looked at her. "I think I know you a lot," he said as he held her closer to him. She sighed and took a deep breath again. "There was a woman, I couldn't see her face, but she was talking to me. We," she said but then paused for a moment before continuing. "We were at a picnic, lots of kids, and families. She pulled out a weapon. I couldn't find you," she whispered at the end.

"Who was the woman?" Andy asked her as he held her. Sharon sniffled. "I don't know," she said simply as they laid in bed. Sharon was wide awake and so was Andy. He knew that neither of them were going to go back to sleep right away. "Okay," he sighed and continued to rub Sharon's arm back and forth with his hand.

Sharon's sniffles turned into sobs as Andy held her. He knew this was going to happen, since she had been bottling it all up yesterday afternoon. "Shh, I've got you," he whispered in her ear as she cried. Tears were running down her face and unto his t-shirt. She sobbed as she fisted his shirt into her hand. He held her as she continued to cry.

A few minutes later, he heard her mumble something into his shirt. He rubbed her back. "What was that?" he asked in a soothing voice. "I'm getting your shirt all wet," she rasped. He moved her gently to sit up with him. "Hang on a second," he said to her and Sharon looked at him as she whipped the tears away. He reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off over his head. "That's better," he said as he tossed the shirt to the floor and grabbed her to lay down with him again.

He held her again as the crying seemed to subside. Sharon was staring at his scar and placed her finger on it, tracing the length. A flood of memories came back as she thought of that day when he got shot. She turned her head into his right shoulder and started to cry again. "Sharon, sweetie, please tell me what's got you crying like this?" Andy soothed her. She didn't answer him. Andy waited before he spoke again. "I'll always be by your side, Sharon. I'm not going anywhere," he assured her as he ran his fingers up and down her back. Sharon sniffled again. "I know," she mumbled. "I'm sorry for this," she said a few seconds later.

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?" he said as he moved her to look at her eyes. They were red from crying but still beautiful to him. "Hey, I know you are a strong person, stronger than me sometimes, it's okay to breakdown," he said to her. She leaned down to his face. "I love you," she whispered to him and then placed a kiss on his lips. "I love you too," he said to her. She settled down on his chest after wiping the tears away.

The next thing he knew, the sunlight was streaming through the blinds in their bedroom. It was morning and Sharon was still in his arms. She had fallen asleep a couple of hours ago but he didn't. Before their alarm went off, Andy reached over to the nightstand and turned it off. Sharon woke up from the movement she felt and rubbed her eyes.

"Did you get any sleep after?" Sharon asked him as she rolled over to her side of the bed. Andy hung his head as he started to get up out of bed. "I'm more worried about you," he said to her as he stood up and walked over to the bathroom. Sharon sat on the edge of their bed and stared at the floor for a minute before she stood up and walked over to their closet.

After their morning routine and getting Matthew off to school, they headed into work. They decided today that Moxie would stay at home, instead of going to doggie day care as Rusty had the day off from his internship. He said he would stop over and let him out during the day.

When they entered the parking garage, Andy parked in their usual spot and turned the car off. Before they exited the car, he grabbed Sharon's hand in his and held it. Sharon looked at him and she gave him an inquisitive look. "Before we go upstairs where we have to be Commander and Lieutenant, I just wanted to let you know I love you," Andy said. Sharon continued to look at him. "Your team has your back," he added and gently squeezed her hand.

Andy then stepped out of the car and walked around to her door to open it. Sharon sat there and waited for him to open her door. She stepped out of the car and looked at Andy again. "Did you do something I need to know about?" she asked him as he closed her car door. "Now why would you say that?" he asked her as they walked towards the elevators.

"Because you did do something, and I'm going to find out about it as soon as I walk into the office, aren't I?" she said as the elevator doors closed on them. "Look, the team might have stayed a little later than what you wanted them to stay," Andy caved as the doors opened on their floor. "I specifically told them to go home last night," she huffed as she stepped out of the elevator and turned the corner. "Wait! Wait!" Andy said to her and Sharon stopped in the hallway.

"The team wants to catch this person behind all of this. Heck, I want to personally find the psychopath myself," Andy said trying to defuse the situation that he just created by telling her. "That's fine, Andy," she said but he stopped her from continuing. "Sharon," he said pulling her to the side of the hallway. "We are in this together, okay. There's no solo shots. You and I, we're a team. Everyone in there is on your side," Andy said as he pointed to the office door. Sharon took a deep breath and then looked at Andy.

"But," she said and Andy stopped her again. "No buts, I told you before, we have your back in this and every day," Andy said and she nodded. "Okay" she said and squeezed his hand. Sharon then pulled Andy with her towards the office door and they stepped inside. She saw her team already working. "Ah, Commander, good morning," Provenza said to her. "Morning Lieutenant," Sharon said as she continued to her office.

Provenza decided to follow her inside her office and waited by the door. He cleared his throat and she turned around to face him. "Yes, Lieutenant?" she said as she placed the files she took home with her back on her desk. "Um, I just wanted to let you know that Mike pinpointed the location of the phone number," he said to her as he stood in her office.

"Oh? So soon? I mean you guys just got here, right?" Sharon said catching Provenza off guard. "Did Flynn tell you?" he said to her. "I know you stayed after I told you all to go home," she said to him as she sat behind her desk. "Look, Sharon," he started, surprised he called her name. "Ahh, I don't want an explanation. I appreciate that you and everyone else here is willing to stay past the time to work on this, but next time when I give you an order to leave, I expect you to do so," Sharon simply said to Provenza. "Right," he said and then left her office.

Provenza went straight for Andy's desk and slapped his arm as he walked up to him. "Ow! What was that for?" Andy said to him. "You're an idiot, Flynn!" he said to him and then went back to his desk. "Me? You knew she was going to find out. I told you that yesterday!" Andy said to him as he walked over to Provenza's desk. Before it could escalate further, Sharon opened her office door and stepped out again. The sound of her heals clicking on the floor stopped both Andy and Provenza from continuing.

"Okay, since you two stayed last night to get the location of the phone number, please tell me what we have," Sharon said to both Mike and Provenza as Andy stood there with his arms crossed. "Okay, well I was able to pinpoint the location of the phone number that called Henry several times using my new software program," Mike started to explain to Sharon. "Here's where the phone number is located," Mike said as he pointed to the map on his computer screen.

"Where is that?" Andy asked him, not recognizing the place. "That's the apartment building where the phone is located, if I zoom out, it will show us the map of the area," Mike said as he clicked a button on the mouse. The picture zoomed out to the area of Oakwood in Los Angeles. "That's why I didn't recognize it," Andy muttered and Sharon glanced at him.

"Do you have a specific location of that phone in that apartment building?" Sharon asked Mike. "Yes, Commander, but there were no judges available last night to get a search warrant so," Mike said and Sharon nodded. He turned around in his chair and picked up his phone to call for a warrant. Sharon turned around to address everyone else. "In the meantime while Mike is calling in a warrant, Amy, I would like you to find out as much information as you can about Ally Moore," Sharon said. "Sure," Amy said and went to her desk.

"Ally Moore?" Provenza questioned Sharon. "Yes Lieutenant," Sharon said as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Isn't she still in jail, ma'am?" Julio asked her. "She was released three months ago, according to her file I went over last night. That's why I'd like to know more about her," Sharon said and then started to head back to her office. "A last known address would be great!" she called out as she entered her office.

Provenza glanced at Andy and then joined him at a desk. "You really think it could be her behind this?" Provenza asked him as Andy watched Sharon in her office. "Sharon seems to think so," Andy glanced at Provenza and then returned to his desk.

Fifteen minutes later, Mike knocked on Sharon's office door and entered when she looked up at him. "I was able to secure a search warrant for the premise of where the phone is located. I narrowed it down to apartment 17," Mike said. "Do we know who lives in apartment 17?" she asked him as he handed her a report. "No," he answered. Sharon looked out her window to see Amy still at her desk.

"Has Amy found a last known address of Ally Moore yet?" Sharon asked him. "Uh, you think she's behind all this, Commander?" Mike asked her as he remembered Ally Moore. "I ruined her life, Lieutenant by insisting that Major Crimes investigated her supposed spousal abuse," Sharon said. "And we all know where that led to," she added. "Right, um I don't know but I can go check for you," Mike said. "Thank you," she said to him and he left her office.

Sharon walked out of her office and saw Mike talking with Amy. She stepped over to Andy's desk and ran her hand across his back to get his attention. Andy looked up from what he was doing and met her eyes. "I'd like to know who lives in apartment 17 at this complex before we go to serve a warrant there," she said to Andy as she handed him the report Mike had given her.

"Sure, I could do that," Andy said and they both saw Provenza walking over to join them. "Commander, I don't mean to jump to any conclusions but do you really think Ally Moore could be behind all of this?" Provenza asked her as Andy sat back and watched. "I don't know, Lieutenant. But she is at the top of my list," Sharon said as she glanced at the Murder Board behind Provenza. Provenza turned around and then back to Sharon and Andy.

"Yes, but there are others to consider as well. How about Willard Darnell? Or Rosa Vega? Even Stephanie Dunn" Provenza said only to Sharon and Andy. "Both Henry and Marvin didn't mention the woman having a heavy Mexican accent," Sharon said. "And as for Willard Darnell, she's still in jail. I looked her up yesterday," Sharon said which surprised Andy. "So is Stephanie Dunn, I had her file yesterday when we were going through them," Andy chimed in.

"Okay," Provenza said as he nodded his head to Sharon. "We'll go with Ally Moore for now, but I don't want to rule out the others on our list here," he said to Sharon as he pointed at the board. "Thank you, Lieutenant," she said and then walked over to where Amy's desk was located. Andy looked at Provenza and shook his head. He then went back to looking up the information that Sharon had just requested.

"Amy do we have a last known address for Ally Moore?" Sharon asked her as she stood next to her desk. "I was just telling Mike that I can't find a new address for her, but she does have a parole officer that she needs to check in with every week. I'm going to contact him and we will see if he has an address for her," Amy said. "Okay, good," Sharon said and then walked to the Murder Board. Maybe Provenza was right. Maybe they should look at other people, Sharon thought to herself. But there was something in the back of Sharon's mind that was telling her to concentrate on Ally Moore.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you to all of the reviewers of this story so far! I really appreciate your kind words. I too had to re-watch that episode of The Closer to see how Ally Moore was, I'm glad some of you did as well. Here is the next chapter of this story.

Chapter 18

"Lieutenant Provenza, Major Crimes," Provenza said as his desk phone rang and he answered it. "Lieutenant, good to hear a friendly voice!" the other person said over the phone which caused Provenza to be alarmed until he recognized the voice as Jonathan Baird. "Why are you calling me?" Provenza said into the phone, loud enough for everyone to hear him.

Andy looked up from his desk and glanced at Provenza. Sharon walked over to his desk from where she was with Amy. Provenza noticed a concerned look on Sharon's face and he shook his head. He then covered up part of the phone. "Don't worry Commander, it's nothing," he assured her. "What do you want?" he gritted his teeth as he spoke to him again. "Surely your store hasn't been robbed again," he added as he looked over at Andy.

Andy stood up and walked over behind Sharon and whispered in her ear. "It's that Jonathan Baird guy," he said and Sharon nodded. "I was looking over the facts of our case together and I seem to be missing something," Jonathan said to Provenza. Provenza was getting disgusted by the second. "Oh really? Let me transfer you over to a detective who handles that, you know Lieutenant Flynn," Provenza said as he looked at Andy, pressed a button on his phone, and hung up.

A second later Andy's desk phone was ringing. "You didn't," Andy said to Provenza and Provenza smiled at him. Andy shook his head and walked back to his desk to answer his phone. "Lieutenant Flynn," he said. "Well hello Lieutenant, I was just talking with your partner on the other end," Jonathan said as Andy glared back at Provenza. Andy listened to him talk and talk. Andy was ready to give Provenza a hand gesture when Sharon turned around to look at him. He gave her a smile instead. Sharon turned her head slightly at him and then returned to the Murder Board.

A few minutes later, Andy hung up his phone and walked over to Provenza's desk. "Thank you," he said to him. "What did he want?" Provenza asked as he started to laugh. Andy looked over to see where Sharon was before proceeding to tell Provenza what Jonathan told him. "So I guess he went down to the evidence clerk about his missing pen and they just gave him the runaround. He asked us if we could look into it, I told him that we had just caught a case but we could see what we could do," Andy said.

"He's missing his pen?" Provenza said and laughed. "Yeh, I guess it's his prized possession, he got it from someone famous or something like that. Anyway, I told him we would look into it after we finished this case, just to get him off the phone," Andy said. "Oh, and by the way thanks for transferring the phone to me," he added. "Your welcome," Provenza said with a smile and laughed some more. Sharon glanced over at her two Lieutenants and wondered what could be so funny. "Care to share what's going on Lieutenant?" Sharon asked Provenza as Andy stood there.

"Uh, no, it's not important Commander," Provenza said and then cleared his throat. "Sorry," he muttered. Sharon looked at Andy who shook his head. "Andy do you have information on that apartment yet?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, before I was interrupted by Provenza's phone call, I had just received the information regarding who is renting that apartment," Andy said as he handed the report to her.

She read it over and paused at the name in front of her. "Ryan Dunn, why do I know that name?" Sharon asked as she glanced at the board and then back at Andy. "Because he was the cop that Ally Moore had her affair with," Andy stated as the two of them walked over to the Murder Board. "Do we know where he's been?" Sharon asked not believing that he rented the apartment.

Julio worked on his computer. "According to our records, ma'am, he was released from jail two years ago and moved to Long Beach where," Julio said but then paused a moment. "He died from an overdose a year ago," Julio finished and pointed to his computer screen. Sharon looked over his shoulder and read the screen. Sharon looked up at Andy. "How long ago was that lease signed?" she asked him. Andy looked through the records until he found the date.

"February 27, 2017," Andy said. "And he died when, Julio?" Sharon asked. "June 20, 2016, according to the medical examiner's office," Julio said as he turned around in his chair. "Too many coincidences Commander," Provenza chimed in. "I say we go knock and talk on that apartment, we have our warrant and see what happens," he added and Sharon agreed. "Alright, vest up, and we'll meet downstairs," she said to all of them and then watched Andy walked to his desk to get his vest.

He turned around and placed the vest over his head to put it on. Sharon walked into her office and grabbed her vest, placing it over her head before she secured it. She then joined Andy who waited outside for her. He took has hand and undid one of the straps and secured it again for her. A silent message between the two of them. They left the office and met everyone downstairs in the garage.

"We'll have two patrol cars with us on this one, Commander," Provenza said as they walked over to the cars. "Good, meet you there," she said as she climbed into their SUV. "Who is she expecting to find when we get there?" Provenza asked Andy as he walked around to the driver's side. "I think you know who," Andy said as he got into the driver's seat and closed the door. He started the car and drove to the scene. Provenza stood there before climbing into the car next to them. Julio drove him to the scene.

Sharon looked out the front window as Andy drove them down the streets of LA to their destination. Andy glanced at her a couple of times but didn't say anything. These were always tense moments as you never knew what would happen. The last time they did this, he had gotten shot. He turned his neck to get the kinks out and that's when he noticed Sharon staring at him. "I'm fine," he said to her as he knew she thought the same thing as he just did.

As they arrived, the perimeter was set up with their cars. Patrol joined them there. Provenza got out of the car and walked over to where patrol had gathered. "Okay, we have a search warrant for apartment 17 only in this building here," Provenza said to the officers as he pointed to the building next to them.

Sharon and Andy joined Mike, Julio, and Amy in front of the building. Provenza and the rest of the officers joined them shortly thereafter. Two officers were posted outside the building and the rest of them went inside. "Ready?" Provenza asked Sharon as they walked into the building. She nodded and they proceeded to apartment number 17. It was on the second story of the building.

They found apartment 17 and surrounded it. Mike and Amy were at the far end of the hallway. Julio and Andy were posted right outside the apartment door. Two other officers were posted at the other end of the hallway. Provenza and Sharon stood across the hall from the apartment door with Buzz. Andy looked at Sharon and she nodded to him. He drew his weapon and then knocked on the door. "LAPD! Open up!" he yelled out. They were met with silence. "LAPD!" he yelled again as he knocked on the door.

Andy looked at Julio and nodded to him. Julio then kicked the door jam and the door was forced open. Andy was the first to go through the door, followed by Julio. It was a small apartment and they were able to clear the area quickly. Provenza and Sharon walked in to the apartment and Buzz followed them. "This is a studio apartment ma'am, so there aren't many rooms to search," Julio said to Sharon as she entered what was the bedroom/living room.

She looked around and saw Andy staring at the wall near the bed. As she turned the corner, she saw what Andy was staring at. There were pictures on the wall of her and Andy. Some were recent and some were old. "Is there any mail here?" she asked out loud to the rest of them as she looked at the pictures. "Here," Julio said as he handed her a piece of mail he had found in the kitchen. "Ally Moore," she said as she looked at who the mail was addressed to.

"Looks like she was in a hurry to leave, Commander," Provenza said to her as he took a look around. "We'll need those pictures as evidence," she said to Provenza and then walked out of the apartment. Provenza looked at Andy as he stood there. Andy shook his head and sighed.

Sharon walked over to where Amy and Mike were standing down the hall. "Buzz is filming the scene, I'm going to need you to dust for fingerprints, Mike," Sharon said. "Sure, Commander," Mike said and walked past her and Amy. "Amy, I need you to do something for me," Sharon said. Amy looked over Sharon's shoulder and then focused on her. "What do you need me to do?" Amy asked her and Sharon sighed.

"I need you to contact that parole officer now, have him meet us here as quickly as possible," Sharon said. "Right, got it," Amy said as she pulled out her phone. Sharon then went back into the apartment and stood by the door. She looked around again. "Where did you go?" she said to herself wondering where Ally had gone to and if she was coming back.

"This isn't going to end well for her," Andy said as he walked up and stood next to Sharon. "I know," Sharon said and then shook her head slowly in disgust for Ally's actions. "Ah, Commander? Ally Moore's parole officer is here now," Amy said as she entered the apartment with him. "So soon?" Sharon said as she saw another man enter the apartment. "I was actually on my way over to do a surprise visit at her work, which I do every other month," the parole officer said as he took a look around. "What did Ally do exactly?" he asked.

"She hired two thugs to get revenge on our Commander," Andy said as he walked over to the guy. "What did you do to her?" the parole officer asked Sharon. "Long story," she answered as she walked over to him, patting Andy on his arm to tell him to stand down. "Where does she work?" Sharon asked him as she walked him to the front door. "At the restaurant just down the street," he said to her.

"Now wait just a minute here! We can't all just go into this restaurant and arrest her," Provenza said. "Why not, Lieutenant?" Sharon asked. "We have probable cause," Andy said to Provenza. "Fine! But we be cautious doing so," Provenza said as he looked around the room at everyone there. "I picked up a majority of the fingerprints, Commander. I'd have to get this back and run it through our system," Mike said. "Do that Lieutenant, and take Buzz back with you," Sharon said. "Yes ma'am," Buzz said disappointed.

"How do you want to do this, Sharon?" Andy asked her as they walked out of the apartment building. "We'll have her parole officer go inside and talk to her first, then we will go in, covering the back and the front of the restaurant," Sharon said to him and repeated herself to the rest of the group. They followed the parole officer to the restaurant by car. They watched as her parole officer went inside. Sharon and Andy then followed him, and entered the restaurant. They saw the parole officer speaking with the manager.

Sharon looked around at the different waitresses in the area but none of them looked like the Ally Moore she remembered from her days in FID. She then noticed the parole officer walk back to them. "She's not here. She didn't show up for work today," he informed them. Sharon rolled her eyes and then looked behind her at Andy. He shook his head. "Where the hell is she then?" Andy said to Sharon. They left the restaurant and headed back to their office.

Meanwhile, half way across town, Ally Moore was knocking on the apartment door of Henry and Marvin. "Henry open up!" she said as she kept knocking. A neighbor from across the way opened their door to see what was going on. "Henry hasn't been home in two days," they said to her. She turned around. "Oh, do you know where he's at?" she asked them. The person shook his head no and then closed the door behind them.

Ally then pulled out her phone and dialed a number she had in the contacts. "Hey, it's me. Can you do me a favor? Could you look into the database and see if a Henry Dexter was recently arrested?" she asked the other person over the phone and waited a few seconds before getting her answer. "Thanks," she said and then she hung up her phone. "Since those idiots got arrested, I have to take matters into my own hands," she said to herself as she walked back to her car.

Back in the office, Sharon removed her vest and placed it underneath her desk before joining the rest of her team outside in the Murder Room. "I ran the prints that we found at the apartment, Commander. It's definitely her," Mike said as he pointed to the screen showing a picture of Ally Moore. "Now do you think we can rule out everybody else, Lieutenant?" Sharon spoke to Provenza. "Yes Commander, I think we can," Provenza answered her and then erased all of the names except for hers.

The rest of the day, the team worked hard to gather as much information as they could about Ally Moore. They found out what type of car she is currently driving and posted an all-points bulletin on the description and plates of her car to the LAPD and surrounding police departments. "Do you think she left town, Commander?" Provenza asked as he stood next to Sharon as she stared at the Murder Board. "No, she started this revenge kick, she's going to stick around till the end and see it through," Sharon said, eyes never leaving the board.

"Why would she want revenge on you, Commander? I mean, she was on your team, you were her supervisor," Provenza said. Sharon huffed at Provenza's question. "When we were brought in to investigate her alleged domestic abuse, it seemed to me that she admired you," he added. "How quickly things turn, right Lieutenant?" Sharon said as she looked at him. "Indeed they do, Commander. Indeed they do," he said.

"I ruined her life, she blamed me for butting into her business," Sharon started to tell Provenza as they walked back to her office. She glanced around the room wondering where Andy went to. Provenza saw this and reassured Sharon that he had seen him head towards the break room for something. Sharon took her seat behind her desk and continued. "I humiliated her in front of fellow officers, she spent nine years in jail plotting this," Sharon said as she sat there and Provenza listened.

"The problem here, Commander, is that we don't know what she wants to do as her so-called revenge on you. Both Henry and Marvin were of no help to us in finding that out," Provenza said. "I know, from the pictures gathered on her wall, the ones of Andy and I together look like they were taken more recently, but," Sharon stated. "How did she get them?" Provenza asked, as he finished her question. "Exactly," Sharon said as she noticed Andy walk into the Murder Room carrying a cup of hot tea.

He made his way into her office and noticed Provenza sitting across from her. "Hope I'm not interrupting something?" he said as he handed her the cup of hot tea. "No, I was just telling the Lieutenant here why Ally Moore would want revenge on me," Sharon said. "I think we need to talk about protection," Andy said as he stood back and watched Sharon drink her tea. She shook her head no. "Andy, I don't," she started to say but was interrupted by Provenza. "Commander, as your second in command, don't make me order you to a protection detail," he said.

"We don't even know what she has in mind, I mean, she hasn't threatened me directly with anything," Sharon stated to her two Lieutenants. "And are you just going to sit back and let her come after you? What would happen if by some reason, she shows up at the house, when Matthew's home? Or when I'm not there? Huh? Then what" Andy said to her, hint of panic coming out in his voice.

"She can spot a protection detail, remember, she was a police officer," Sharon said. "Which makes her even more dangerous, Sharon," Andy said, in a pleading voice now. Sharon looked across her desk at Andy and then at Provenza, knowing that they were right. She would eventually need some sort of protection, if not for her, for Matthew's protection, in case Ally Moore went after him to get to her. Oh yes, she hated even thinking about that possibility.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 19

There was a closed door meeting inside Sharon's office later on that afternoon. Chief Mason, Chief Howard, Lieutenant Cooper, Sharon, Andy, Provenza, Julio, and Amy were all inside the office. "I can put SIS officers outside your house, if that's what you want, Commander," Lieutenant Cooper stated to Sharon. Sharon stared at her desk, hearing but not hearing all the things that were being decided and not decided regarding this whole protection detail. Andy noticed that she was not paying attention to what Cooper said to her. "Sharon?" he said as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder. She looked up at him and blinked. "I don't want that," she said alluding that she didn't want SIS officers outside their home.

Andy took a deep breath and then looked at Cooper who now had his arms folded across his chest in disgust. "What I do want is someone watching Matthew while he is at school," Sharon said as she looked at Lieutenant Cooper. "Right, we can do that Commander. Just like we did for Rusty, but this time it will be easier because we won't have to follow him around a college campus," Cooper said as he glanced between Sharon and Andy.

"Speaking of Rusty, since he still lives at home, I would also like someone on him," Sharon suggested. "He's interning at the DA's office, easy to keep an eye on," she added as she looked directly at Lieutenant Cooper. Andy looked at Sharon as she sat behind her desk and slightly shook his head. That was Sharon, always wanting to protect her children, their children, before herself. It didn't surprise him; after all, she did run down a flight of stairs barefooted to save Rusty from Wade Weller.

"Sure, Commander," Cooper said as he glanced around the room. If her own husband couldn't convince her to take the security detail for herself, there was no way he was going to even try. "Lieutenant Cooper, please gather up your personnel and get on those assignments ASAP," Assistant Chief Mason stated. "Yes sir!" Cooper stated and then left Sharon's office.

Assistant Chief Mason looked at everyone left in the room. "Do you guys mind leaving while I have a word with your Commander?" he said to them. Andy glared at him but did as he was asked. As he was leaving he glanced back at Sharon and she nodded to him. He sighed and then walked out of her office with everyone else.

Sharon looked up at Assistant Chief Mason with a curious look. "Sharon, if everyone is saying how dangerous this Ally Moore is, why don't you take the security detail?" he asked her as he sat down across from her desk. "I can take care of myself, Chief," Sharon said quickly and to the point. He sat there for a minute, gathering his thoughts on what he wanted to tell her. "Your team is worried about you, and so is your husband," he added. "I know that," Sharon said as she glanced out her window and saw Andy sitting at his desk.

"You don't know Ally Moore like I do. I had a very close working relationship with her prior to catching her in the murder of her husband," Sharon said and paused a few seconds before looking back at Mason. "Now, if you really want to help me, you could find out how she was able to get out of jail on a murder charge nine years later for good behavior, that seems a little strange," she added as they both sat there in her office. "Fine, we'll do things your way for now, and I'll look into that as well," Assistant Chief Mason said as he stood up from the chair. "Thank you Chief," Sharon said and Mason left her office.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a brief second. She heard a knock on her door. As she opened her eyes, she saw Provenza standing at the door. "Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but I just wanted to let you know that we have an all-points bulletin out on Ally Moore, everyone in the LAPD is looking for her," he said and Sharon acknowledged.

Sharon glanced at her watch as Provenza stood there in her office. "You know, Commander, that Flynn is worried about you and his little outburst earlier was because of that," Provenza said to her. "I know, Lieutenant. It's getting late, why don't we wrap things up here and go home," Sharon said to him as she started to shuffle papers around her desk. "Right, good night," Provenza said as he stood there watching her for a moment and then left her office.

He passed Andy sitting at his desk as he left Sharon's office. "The Commander is sending everyone home, so let's go home this time. We will pick up tomorrow, people!" Provenza said and then turned around to talk to Andy. Andy was watching Sharon in her office. "Hey?" Provenza said to get his attention. Andy turned around and looked at him. "Don't do anything stupid, Flynn. She needs you, even though she won't admit it," he said to Andy. "Yeah," he said and thought back to the earlier conversation the two of them had prior to the meeting in her office.

" _Which makes her even more dangerous, Sharon," he had said to her as he stood in front of her desk. Provenza was sitting down across from Sharon. Sharon had sat there, lost in thought, but before Andy could say anything else, Sharon spoke. "Andy, I am very capable of taking care of myself!" she said in an almost harsh tone. Before Andy could stop himself, words started flowing out of his mouth. "Really? Like how you took care of yourself when Rusty was being threatened? Staying up all night, worrying about him, not getting any sleep of your own? Yeah, Sharon, you really took care of yourself back then!" Andy spewed._

" _How dare you!" Sharon stated to Andy as she sat there listening to him. "I protected him when the detail lost track of the guy! I did what I had to do in order for Rusty to be safe!" Sharon said to him. "Yeah, and you almost got yourself killed in the process!" Andy spit back. "Alright, that's enough!" Provenza said to Andy as he watched how Sharon was reacting to those words. The rest of the team looked up from their desks to see what was going on in Sharon's office._

" _Look, you are both under a lot of stress from this Ally Moore crap! Don't say something you both are going to regret later," Provenza told them and they both looked at each other. Andy stood there with his arms folded across his chest. He knew his friend was right so he stopped talking as he didn't want to dig himself further into a deeper hole with Sharon._

Andy felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Sharon standing next to him. "Ready to go?" she asked. He nodded in agreement and stood up from his desk. He took a deep breath and then spoke. "Look, Sharon," he started to say. "It's okay, Andy," she interrupted him and ran her hand along his left arm, gently tugging on his suit jacket as her hand made its way to his hand. He looked into her eyes. "I'll carry your bag," he said as he held out his other hand. She placed her bag in his hand and they walked out of the office together.

He knew they weren't out of the woods yet, with both the blowup earlier and this Ally Moore stint. They would need to discuss this further, but quite frankly, all Andy wanted to do this moment was pick up Matthew from school and then relax at home.

As they made their way out of the elevator, they walked over to their car; Andy held the door open for Sharon to get in. "Do you want to order something for dinner tonight?" Sharon asked him as he slid into the driver's side and closed the door. "Sure, whatever you want to do is fine with me," he said as he started the car and headed out of the parking garage. Andy turned the car onto the next street and they headed to pick Matthew up from school.

As Andy pulled into the parking lot of the school, he noticed an unmarked car parked across the street along with another unmarked car parked in the school's parking lot. "Guess Cooper's team is in place," he said to Sharon as he parked the car. Sharon glanced over at the two cars and nodded in agreement. Andy took a deep breath as he watched Sharon get out of the car and he followed her. They walked into the school's entrance and went over to the after school care program to get Matthew.

While Sharon was speaking with one of the teachers, Andy walked over to have a look inside the room and he saw Matthew playing a board game with another kid. "Matthew!" he said to him and grabbed his attention. Matthew turned around and saw his dad waiting for him. He started to get up from the table. "Sorry Bobby, I have to go home now," Matthew said to the kid. "Bye Matthew!" Bobby said as Matthew grabbed his backpack from the counter and ran up to where Andy was standing.

"Hey kiddo! Did you have a good day at school?" Andy asked him as they walked towards Sharon. "Uh huh," Matthew said. "Anything new today?" he asked him as Sharon was still talking with one of the teachers. "No," Matthew replied. Sharon saw them approaching her and she thanked the teacher for speaking with her and greeted Matthew as he approached her.

"Matthew, did you do all of your homework?" she asked him as they started to walk out to the car. "Yes," he replied as he walked ahead of Sharon and Andy. They both looked at each other and Andy shrugged his shoulders as he unlocked the car from the remote. Before Matthew climbed into the backseat, Andy stopped him. "Is everything okay?" he asked Matthew. "Yes," he said as he climbed into the car and put his seatbelt on.

Andy closed the back door and looked at Sharon who was still standing outside the car. "He got a little upset in science class today. That's what his teacher was talking to me about when you went to get him," Sharon explained. "Upset about what?" Andy asked her. "Wildfires," she said as she looked at him. Andy nodded his head. "I'll talk to him when we get home," he said and Sharon then sat inside the car. Once they were settled in, Andy drove them home.

Forty minutes later, after stopping to pick up the dinner that they ordered, they were finally pulling into the driveway. Matthew waited until Andy turned the car off before he opened the backdoor and started to run towards the back door of the house. "Matthew!" Andy called out to him and Matthew stopped. "What?" he asked as he turned around to face his dad. Andy had grabbed the takeout bags from the car and had glanced at Sharon before he walked over to Matthew.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk," Andy said to Matthew and Matthew's shoulders slumped. Sharon walked past them on her way to the back door. "I can take those bags in for you," she said to him as she was only carrying her work bag. "I got it, Sharon," he said to her and then focused on Matthew. "Wait here while I drop these off in the kitchen," he told Matthew and then followed Sharon into the house.

Moxie greeted them as they entered and Andy sidestepped past the dog as Moxie ran outside into the backyard. Andy then placed the food bags on top of the counter and turned around to head back outside. He was met by a look from Sharon. "Go easy on him, will you?" she said as she placed her bag down. "I'm just going to see what's bothering him," he said as he walked out the door.

When he walked outside, he saw Matthew sitting on the patio and Moxie was right by his side. "Alright, now what is this I hear about you getting upset over wildfires?" Andy said as he pulled up a chair next to Matthew. "They're scary and unpredictable," Matthew muttered to him. "Oh, I see," he said to Matthew. "What if a wildfire comes here to the hills that are close to our home?" Matthew asked him. "Is that what you're worried about?" Andy asked and Matthew nodded his head.

"Come here," he said as he held out his hand to Matthew. Matthew stood up and walked over to Andy. "Please do not worry about wildfires, Matthew. Let the adults like myself and mommy worry about those, okay? You need to enjoy being a kid, doing your homework, and having fun," Andy explained to him. "But what if it comes here when we are sleeping?" Matthew asked. "Then we will all evacuate, but the most important thing is that we all stick together, okay?" Andy said as he looked at Matthew. "Okay," Matthew mumbled. "Alright, now go inside, wash your hands and get ready for dinner!" Andy called out to him as he walked through the backdoor with Moxie following him.

Andy stood up and looked up into the sky. One talk down, one to go he thought to himself as he then made his way back into the house. He was going to wait to speak to Sharon after they had dinner. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw Sharon and Matthew already sitting down at the table and Matthew was eating his chicken nuggets. Andy washed his hands and then joined them at the dinner table and they ate together.

Rusty had texted Sharon a couple of minutes later saying that he was on his way home from his internship and that he was starving. She texted him stating that they had plenty of food for him if he wanted to stop by. After Matthew was finished, he asked them if he could be excused from the table. "Sure, Matthew, but no TV right now. Read a book or play with your LEGOs upstairs," Sharon said to him and he looked defeated when she told him that. "Fine," he muttered and left the kitchen with Moxie.

Sharon and Andy looked at each other. "So, what did you say to him?" she asked as she sat there and finished her dinner. "I just explained to him not to worry about the wildfires and leave that to us," Andy said. "Hmm, I see with that explanation no wonder he worries," Sharon teased him. Andy placed his fork down on the table and looked at Sharon. "Look, Sharon, I wanted to apologize earlier for that outburst in your office," Andy said to her but Sharon placed her hand up. "There's no need to apologize, I know this is difficult and it seems like we are constantly at this point with someone after one of us," Sharon said as she watched him fiddle with his hands.

"Hey Mom, Dad?! There's a package at the front door!" Matthew called out to them as he was making his way upstairs. Both Sharon and Andy looked at each other before Andy stood up, followed by Sharon, and they walked over to the front door. Matthew was looking out the side window at the door. The hairs on the back of Andy's neck stood up all of a sudden. He glanced at Sharon before he opened the door. "Should we call it in?" he said as he stepped outside onto the porch.

"Who's it from?" Sharon asked him as he looked at the package still on the ground. "There's no return address. It's not ticking," he said as he looked at her. "That's not funny," she said to him. Andy went to go pick up the package, it wasn't super heavy, but then again, it wasn't light either. Andy was about to open the box up outside when Sharon stopped him. "Wait!" she said and then turned to Matthew. "Go upstairs," she said to him. "Why? I want to see what you got?" Matthew said innocently to Sharon. "Matthew, I'm asking you nicely to go upstairs to your room," she said to him again. Matthew looked at her and finally agreed to do what she asked of him.

Sharon watched Matthew trudge up the stairs and Moxie followed him up there. She then turned around to Andy and the unknown box that was on their front porch. She saw him putting on a pair of exam gloves that he had kept in his pocket. "Are there any markings on it?" she asked him. Andy took a look at the box. "Nope, no markings, no return address, and it's only addressed to you, Sharon," Andy said as he pulled out his pocket knife. Sharon contemplated what they should do, before she sighed, and gave in to wondering what was in the box.

"Fine, go on and open it, but be careful Andy," she said to him as he started to cut open the box. He was very careful as he cut it open. There was some tissue papers inside the box as Andy opened it slowly. He took his pocket knife to move the papers over to one side and there was something in the middle of the box. "Shit," Andy muttered but Sharon heard him. "What? What is it?" Sharon asked him. Andy pulled out what he saw and showed it to Sharon. It was a dead rat's head. Sharon gasped when she saw that and Andy quickly placed it back in the box it had come in. "Now will you take this seriously?" he asked her as he watched her standing in front of him.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 20

Mike and Provenza arrived at the Flynns' house fifteen minutes after Andy had called and spoken to them. He had informed them of the box that was waiting at their porch when they got home that evening and about the contents of what it contained. Mike examined the rat's head in their garage, as Sharon didn't want that in the house. "Hey Lieutenant Tao!" Rusty said as he walked up to the garage door. He saw him examining something and was curious to know what it was. "What are you looking at?" he asked Mike as he approached him.

Mike looked up from the rat to see Rusty coming closer in the garage. "Uh, Rusty, I don't think your mother would want you to see this," Mike said to him. "Why? What is it?" Rusty asked as he stood there and tried to peek into the area. "Your mom received a dead rat this evening in a box that was left on the front porch," Mike said to him. "Wait, what?" Rusty said and Mike picked up the rat to show him. Rusty jumped back a little at the sight and turned around. He then made his way into the house and ran into Andy, Sharon, and Provenza talking in the kitchen. "Are you sure it's from her?" Provenza asked. "A dead rat, Lieutenant," Sharon said. "Dead rat for a former rat squad Captain," Andy said.

"Mom! Is everything okay? Lieutenant Tao said you received a dead rat in a box," Rusty said to Sharon as he walked in on the conversation. Sharon looked at Rusty and walked over to him. "I'm fine, we are all fine, okay?" she said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, but who would send this to you?" Rusty asked her. She looked at him and sighed. "Don't worry about that, Rusty," Andy chimed in. "But, this is a big deal, didn't you see The Godfather when he sends the dead horse's head and the guy wakes up with it in his bed?" Rusty said to them.

"That was a movie, kid. And plus, that was the mafia, and we know that the mafia didn't send this," Andy reassured him. "Look, why don't you have a seat at the table and you can have some leftovers, you said you were hungry, right?" Sharon said to him as she guided him over to the table and nodded at Andy. Andy started to take the food out of the refrigerator but Rusty got up from the table and went over to him. "I can get that, Andy," he said and grabbed the container of food from him.

"Why don't we go somewhere else where we're not interrupted," Provenza said to Sharon and Andy and they made their way to the den down the hallway. "Now look, Commander, I have tried to stay out of this mess, but I have to agree with Flynn here on this one. SIS will be posted outside your house," Provenza said to Sharon. Sharon did not want to agree to that. "No," she said as she shook her head. Andy was ready to hit the ceiling. "Why not?" he asked her. Sharon looked at Andy and then Provenza as she stood there.

Just then, Andy heard the patter of feet coming down the stairs. He looked over and saw Matthew coming down to the first floor. "Oh, hey Uncle Louie!" Matthew said to Provenza as they stood in the den. "Hey Matthew," Provenza said as he turned around to watch him. Matthew looked around at the three adults in the den and knew something must be wrong. "Is something wrong?" he asked them. "No honey, nothing's wrong. Why don't you go back upstairs and continue playing up in your room," Sharon said as she moved aside to reach Matthew in the hallway.

Matthew went back upstairs and Sharon watched him go. She then turned around to join Andy and Provenza back in the den. "Is there any room in this house where we will not get interrupted by one of your children?" Provenza asked sarcastically. Andy glared at his friend and was about to say something but Sharon stopped him. "Lieutenant," Sharon said to Provenza. "Right, getting back to what we were saying before, Commander, SIS is going to be outside your house," Provenza said to her.

Sharon huffed at his comment and was about to protest. "This is not up for discussion, Commander. I already called Lieutenant Cooper and he will be here shortly to inform you of what will be going on," Provenza said to Sharon and then looked at Andy. "I don't want to be a prisoner in my own home, again," she said to them. Andy sighed as he looked at her. He didn't want that either but what would be the alternative?

Ally Moore already proved her point several times that she was able to get to their house without any of them knowing. What would she do next, he wondered. Against his better judgement, he spoke up. "I can't believe I'm saying this but what if SIS just conducted surveillance of the house when we are not home?" Andy asked as Provenza wondered what he was thinking. "Flynn, earlier today you wanted protection for Sharon, and now you've changed your mind?" Provenza said. "Ye gods! I don't know about you anymore!" he added and then saw Lieutenant Cooper pulling up the driveway with Amy.

"I'm not changing my mind!" he said as he glanced at Sharon and they both followed Provenza into the kitchen. Rusty looked up from his dinner and saw them approaching the kitchen. "Rusty, do me a favor and keep an eye on Matthew while we discuss something with Lieutenant Cooper and Amy," Sharon asked Rusty. "Sure, I'm done here anyway," he said as he picked up his empty plate and placed it in the sink. He then headed upstairs to see what Matthew was up to.

Sharon, Andy, and Provenza met Cooper and Amy in the driveway as they walked out of the house. "Commander, maybe we should step inside to discuss this," Cooper said to Sharon and then they turned around and headed back inside the house. Mike joined them in the kitchen and left the rat outside. "Mike, do you know where that rat may have come from?" Sharon asked him. "Hard to say, could be from a lab of some kind, it's definitely not your local street rat," Mike said.

"So, let's talk about security details here for a moment," Cooper said to all of them in the room. "Now, I have my guys set up at Matthew's school," he said. "Yes, we saw them when we picked him up today," Sharon said. "Good, and also I have two of my men at the DA's office following Rusty," Cooper continued. Sharon nodded as she held Andy's hand. They were both leaning up against the counter as they listened to Lieutenant Cooper speak. "So, that just leaves you, Commander," he said. "Now I know we discussed this earlier in your office but that was before she sent this box to you with a dead rat inside," he added.

"Yeah, Coop, um I can be Sharon's security detail, like I did before when we were chasing Wade Weller and Stroh," Andy said as he scratched the side of his face with his free hand. "What?" Sharon said to Andy, not knowing that he was part of that operation. "It was easier to assign me given our history, than it was to assign a stranger to you," Andy explained to her. Her eyes squinted as she tried to wrap her head around what Andy told her.

Lieutenant Cooper looked around the room and then back at Andy and Sharon. "Okay, but I think we should watch the house from the outside, in case she comes back with another gift," Cooper suggested. Sharon turned her head to listen to Lieutenant Cooper. "We could set up cameras, Commander, and watch them from a video van down the street if that's what you want, instead of being right outside your door," Cooper added. Sharon nodded and agreed to that. "Yes, that would be sufficient enough I think," Sharon said to him.

"Okay then, I'll get on that right away," Cooper said to Provenza as Sharon seemed to be distracted by Andy's revelation a couple of minutes ago. Andy had let go of Sharon's hand as she seemed to want to walk away from him to sort through some things in her head. "I'm going to head down to our lab and see what else I can find out about this rat," Mike said to Andy and then headed out the door. "I appreciate it," Andy said to him. He then glanced over at Sharon who was now standing in the corner of the kitchen, with her arms crossed.

"I'm going to get going as well, call me if you need anything Flynn," Provenza said to Andy as he walked out as well. "Yeah, thanks," Andy replied. He ran his fingers through his hair as he locked to door behind everyone. He then went back to the kitchen to talk to Sharon.

"You were assigned to me?" she said in a quiet voice. "Don't make it sound like it was a bad thing," Andy said to her as he walked closer to her and reached for her hand. "We were already involved, it was easier for the manpower," Andy tried explaining to her. "They only time I wasn't with you was when you left early and I was still at the morgue," he said. "Yeah, and that's when you called me to warn me about the person in my building," Sharon said to him, as she remembered that day. "How was I to know you would run down a flight of stairs, barefooted, with your gun drawn before I could get there," he said to her as he looked into her eyes.

"I promise you, that I will never let you out of my sight, until she is caught," Andy whispered to her as he held her gaze. "She's really sick, isn't she?" Sharon said. "She wants your attention," he said as he gently caressed her arm. "She's got it," she said in reply and took a deep breath.

Later on that evening, Lieutenant Cooper came back to set up the cameras at all areas outside of the house. When he was finished, he spoke to Andy before leaving. "I have the first shift with Sykes and Makenzie, if she does come back tonight, we'll know about it," Cooper said as he glanced over at Sharon. She stood in the hallway, quiet. "Thanks Coop, have a good night," Andy said. "You too," Cooper said and then left their house. Andy closed the door and locked up. He turned around and saw Sharon staring off somewhere.

"Sharon?" he said as he got closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let's get ready for bed," he said to her. "Did Rusty leave yet?" she asked him as they walked up the stairs to the second floor. "No, he's still here. He decided to stay in the guest room tonight," he said to her as they made their way up. "He mentioned something about the rat freaking him out a little," Andy finished. They first walked in to Matthew's room and found him fast asleep on his bed. Sharon pulled the covers up around him and kissed him good night on his cheek.

Rusty was up in the guest room when Sharon walked in. "Hey, is it okay if I stay here tonight?" Rusty asked her. "Of course, Rusty," Sharon said to him as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Doesn't getting sent that rat kind of freak you out?" he asked her as he pulled his knees up to his chest. "Well, it doesn't really freak me out, but it does alarm me enough to keep me alert now," Sharon explained to him. "Do you know who sent that to you?" Rusty asked her. Sharon paused for a minute as she worked things through in her mind. "Yes, we do, Rusty, but I don't want you getting involved in this, got it?" Sharon said to him. Rusty looked at his mom and saw the serious side of Sharon come out. "Got it," he said to her. "Okay," she said and smiled to him as she stood up from his bed and walked towards the door. "Good night," she said to him. "Night," he said as she walked away.

Andy was waiting for her in the hallway when she exited the guest room. "How long have you been out here?" she asked him as she walked towards their room. "Since you went in there to say good night to Rusty. I told you I'm not leaving your sight," he said as he followed her into their bedroom. She went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Andy stood in the closet, putting his gun away in the safe that was there and then changed into pajama bottoms and a Dodgers shirt.

He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Sharon to be finished. When she came out of the bathroom, Andy went in to get ready for bed. When he was done, he stepped out of the bathroom and found Sharon sitting on the bed, waiting for him. "Hey," he said to her as he climbed into bed next to where she laid. "This house is being watched by the best SIS officers right now, plus you have the best bodyguard you could ask for," he said to her trying to calm her nerves down. She chuckled at his last comment. "I like you as my bodyguard," she said to him. "Good, cause I can't be replaced," he said to her and then kissed her.

They settled in for the night. Andy held Sharon close to him. Sharon's eyes were still open a couple of minutes later. "One of us is going to need some sleep," Andy mumbled to her. "Come on, you need to relax. I've got this watch, Sharon," he said to her as he gently rubbed her back. He said that to her whenever they had a crisis and one of them needed sleep. She hated that feeling of helplessness. But, she knew that Andy would stay true to his word. He always had.

Meanwhile, somewhere near the USC campus, Ally Moore walked towards the science lab building. "Hey," she said to a guy who was standing outside smoking. "Aunt Ally, what are you doing here this late at night?" he said to her as he put his cigarette out. "I need a place to crash for the night. The cops are watching my apartment and I figured since you helped me with that rat I needed, you could also let me stay at your place," Ally said to her nephew. "Uh, sure," he said. "Let me just close up here and I'll be ready to go," he said to her as she followed him inside the science lab.

Once he did that, he joined Ally outside the building. "So, Aunt Ally, what did you need that rat for anyway?" he asked her as they got inside his car. "A project that I'm working on currently," she said as she looked out the window of the car. Her nephew then drove them to his apartment. "Why are the cops watching your place? I thought you worked for them?" he asked her as he drove. "Just drive and stop asking me questions, okay!" Ally was irritated. She knew that she had to act quickly but she needed a place to stay the night. Just as she thought, the Major Crimes team, led by her former Captain, was closely on her tail. She needed something to distract them so that's when she decided to send a rat's head to Sharon. Fitting, she thought. A rat for the former head of the rat squad as they were known in the LAPD. She was on the way to humiliating her former Captain, just as she was humiliated nine years ago.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you to all of the reviewers of this story so far! I really appreciate your kind words.

Chapter 21

It was midnight and Andy was still awake. He could tell that Sharon was having some sort of dream as he held her to him. "Sweetheart, you're okay," he whispered in her ear as she started to thrash her arms. She woke up when she heard his voice, trying to catch her breath. Her chest was heaving and her arms were shaking. "Sharon, it's okay," he kept repeating in her ear and rubbed her back gently. Sharon looked at him and closed her eyes. She then took her hand and grabbed her shirt at her chest and started to pull it away from her body. She was sweaty.

Andy sat her up with him in bed. "Does your chest hurt you?" he asked concerned. She shook her head. "No," she said, barely above a whisper to him as she continued to rub her chest, all the while still trying to breath normally. "Sharon, look at me," he said to her as he placed two fingers under her chin. She swallowed hard and then finally looked up at him. She was finally able to catch her breath. "I'm sorry," she muttered to him. "You have nothing to be sorry about, it's okay," he reassured her as they sat there on their bed.

A few minutes later, Sharon got up and headed towards the bathroom. "Where are you going?" he asked her. "I need a shower," she simply said and closed the door behind her. Andy watched her walk into the bathroom. Once she closed the door, he stood up from their bed and walked over to their balcony window. He looked outside at the pitch blackness of the night. Here and there, street lights illuminated the sky. He heard the shower turn on. His heart was telling him to join her in there but he knew she needed some time alone in there. He needed to find Ally Moore and once he did, he was going to make sure that she never threatened Sharon again.

Ten minutes later, the shower was still running and Sharon was standing underneath the spray. She never thought that Ally Moore would be coming after her, seeking some sort of revenge after being caught. Sharon also thought that Ally Moore would not get out of prison for good behavior, especially on a murder charge. She would need to ask Andrea what exactly happened with that case and who was the assigned attorney. The water felt good hitting her back. "Sharon?" Andy's voice came from outside the shower door.

She opened it, with the shower still running and found Andy standing there with no shirt on. "Are you going to join me?" she asked him as he stood there. "Do you want me to?" he asked. She nodded and held her hand out for him to take. He quickly got undressed and stepped into the shower with her. He held her as the water beat down his back and she reveled in the warmth of his body.

Friday morning came and Sharon found herself tangled in the sheets with Andy. She opened her eyes and saw him looking back at her. "Morning," she said to him with a smile. "Good morning," he said and leaned in to kiss her. "I love you," she said to him as they broke their kiss. "I love you too," he said as she propped herself up on one elbow while running her finger down his arm.

"Did you sleep okay after the shower?" he asked her as he ran his fingers up and down her arm. "I did, thank you for helping me," she said to him in a sultry voice. He smiled and gave her his famous grin which always brought a tingle through her body whenever he flashed it to her. Their alarm went off, breaking the moment the two were sharing. Andy reached over and hit the snooze button. He then pulled Sharon down with him and she laid her head on top of his chest. Now he was rubbing her back with gentle strokes.

They laid there together until the alarm went off again. "Hmm, I don't think I like that alarm very much," Sharon sighed as she started to move off of his chest. "I'm not too fond of it either right now," he whispered to her as he didn't want to let her go. She leaned down and kissed him. "I'm afraid we have to face this day," she said after she broke their kiss. Andy sighed as he stopped rubbing her back and reluctantly let her go.

They both got up and went about their morning routine to get ready for work. She was surprised when she went downstairs that Rusty was already up and sitting at their kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning," she said to him as she walked towards the refrigerator. "Morning," he replied. "I hope you don't mind but I helped myself to a bowl of cereal," he said as he continued to eat. "Not at all, Rusty," she said to him as she poured herself a glass of water.

Andy had woken up Matthew after Sharon had gone downstairs. "Hey buddy, rise and shine," Andy said to him as he opened the blinds on his windows. Matthew woke up and rubbed his eyes. "What did mommy get in the box?" he asked Andy as he got out of bed. Andy looked at him as he gathered his school uniform. "Oh, um, it was something to do with the case that we are working on," Andy said quickly as to not alarm Matthew. Matthew looked at his father for a few seconds and then turned around and headed into the bathroom to get ready for school.

Andy then went downstairs with Moxie following him. "Hey, morning Rusty," Andy said to Rusty as he passed through the kitchen on his way to the back door to let Moxie outside. "Morning," Rusty said to him and then watched Andy leave. "Are you two gonna tell Matthew what was in the box?" Rusty asked Sharon as she gathered the toast from the toaster and placed it on her plate. Sharon turned around and paused for a second. "I don't want to alarm him, and besides, he doesn't need to know what was inside, it might creep him out," Sharon stated as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"It kind of creeped me out last night," Rusty said as he finished his cereal. "See, even more reason not to tell him," Sharon said. "Not to tell who?" Andy asked as he made his way back into the kitchen. "I was just asking Mom if you were going to tell Matthew what was in the box," Rusty explained to Andy. "Oh, yeah, well he already asked me this morning when I woke him up," Andy said as he poured himself some cereal.

Sharon looked over towards him at the island. "What did you say to him?" Sharon asked. "I didn't go into detail, just that it was something for our case we are working on," Andy explained. "I figured we didn't want to alarm him, bad enough the kid is freaked out by the wildfires that are occurring here," Andy said as he sat down at the table. "Wildfires?" Rusty asked. Sharon shook her head slightly.

Just then, Matthew came down from upstairs all set for school. He sat down at the kitchen table. "Morning sweetie," Sharon said as she ran her hand through his hair. "Morning," Matthew mumbled. "What would you like for breakfast?" Andy asked him. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Cereal," he said. Andy stood up from the table and went to the pantry to get out Matthew's cereal box and then grabbed a bowl on the way back to the table. "Here you go," Andy said as he poured him a bowl of cereal. "Thank you," Matthew said and then poured the milk in the bowl himself and started to eat.

Moxie sat down next to Matthew and was waiting for him to drop anything onto the floor. Andy made Matthew his lunch for the day and placed his lunch bag in his backpack. "Are we leaving Moxie here or taking him to doggie day care today?" he asked Sharon as she was putting away her dish from breakfast. Sharon thought about it quickly. "I think he would be safer at doggie day care then here home alone," she said, and looked at Rusty as he stood up from the table. "I need to go pick up the coffee order for everyone now, so I'm going to take off," he said to Sharon and Andy.

"Be safe and have a good day!" Sharon said to Rusty and then watched him walk out the door. She took a deep breath and sighed. "He'll be fine," Andy said to Sharon as he passed behind her to get the dog's leash. Sharon gathered her bag and held out Matthew's backpack for him to take. The four of them left the house and Andy locked up the back door. Matthew took Moxie's leash from Andy and walked the dog to the car in the garage.

Sharon stopped halfway and Andy stopped with her. "What is it?" he asked her, as he looked at her face. She had a concerned look, which in turn, made Andy have a concerned look as well. "I just, uh, have an uneasy feeling, that's all," she said to him. Andy nodded his head and understood her. "Nothing's going to happen. The house is being watched. Matthew has someone at the school watching him. Rusty has someone at the DA's office, and you have me," Andy said to her, and they started to walk towards the car again.

"She's got to have someone else helping her," Sharon said to Andy. "Maybe, but we can figure that all when we get into work," Andy said as he held her door open and she climbed inside. Matthew and Moxie were already sitting in the back seat. She gave him a smile and he returned her smile as he closed her car door. He then proceeded to the driver's side and once inside, started the car and drove Matthew to school.

Sharon and Andy dropped Matthew off at his school. Andy nodded his head at one of the SIS officers stationed outside of the school as they walked Matthew over to the school's entrance. That officer got on a radio and notified Lieutenant Cooper that Matthew had arrived. "Have a good day, Matthew," Sharon said to him as she bent down to be at his level. "I will," he said in reply and walked in the school with the rest of the kids. Sharon watched him go inside and Andy watched her as he stood next to her.

"Sharon, we don't even know what she's going to do. She may not even go after Matthew. It's just a precaution," Andy said to her as they walked back to the car. "I know," Sharon said as she climbed back in the passenger side. Andy then drove Moxie over to the doggie day care place and took him inside. He insisted that Sharon went with him inside as he didn't want to take any chances.

Meanwhile, Ally Moore quietly approached Sergeant Samuels as he made his way towards the PAB building. "Mac!" she called out to him as she held a box in her hands. "Shit, Ally, what the hell are you doing here?" Sergeant Samuels said as he looked around the area and made sure no one saw them. "I need you to make sure she gets this box in her office," Ally said and handed him the box she was holding. "Ally, I can't be helping you. When you called me regarding those two guys to see if they were arrested, that was all I could do," Sergeant Samuels said to her.

Ally looked disgusted. "Oh come on Mac! You hate her too! Don't you remember what she did to you when she was in charge of FID?" she said to him, and jogged his memory. "Yeah, she demoted me from Lieutenant to Sergeant. I didn't forget that," he said as he started to walk away. Ally grabbed his arm. "I need your help!" she said and shoved the box in his arm. "What's in it?" he asked her as he glanced down at the box he was now holding. "A present to go with the one I gave her yesterday at her house," Ally said. "Don't worry, it's not a bomb or anything like that," she reassured him.

Sergeant Samuels looked around the area where they were standing. "Look, there's an all-points out on you. If you are seen here, I won't be able to do anything," he informed her. Ally looked at him. "Just make sure she gets this, that's all I'm asking Mac!" Ally told him and then walked away. Sergeant Samuels then continued walking into the employee entrance of the PAB and went up to the ninth floor. As he exited the elevators, he didn't see anyone in the hallway so he made his way towards the office of Major Crimes. He punched in the key code at the door and walked through, noting that no one was in their office at this time. He then placed the box outside of Commander Flynn's office and got out of there quickly.

After dropping Moxie off, Andy and Sharon then head towards the PAB building and after their commute, pull into the parking garage. Andy parked their car and turned off the engine. He then glanced over at Sharon. She still looked uneasy and that bothered him. "You okay?" he asked her and rubbed her hand gently. She closed her eyes and nodded her head yes. "We've been through this before, right? And we always get them," he said as he continued to rub her hand. She took a deep breath before she opened her eyes.

She then opened her car door and stepped out. Andy did the same and met her on the other side of the car. They walked hand in hand towards the elevators and stepped inside. They exited on their floor and headed towards the Murder Room. Andy opened the door for her and she stepped in front of him. As she walked inside the office she saw Provenza and Julio standing at an empty desk close to her office. They were staring at something.

"Morning gentlemen," she said as she got closer to them. Provenza looked at her with a blank look on his face. "Commander, it seems you have received another box, here at your office," he said to her and then Sharon looked at the box that was sitting on the empty desk. Andy came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "What the hell?" he muttered under his breath. "Did you open it?" Sharon said as she cleared her throat. "No, not yet ma'am," Julio stated as he put on a pair of gloves. Sharon took another deep breath and rubbed her forehead.

"Where's Mike?" she asked Provenza as she looked around the room and didn't see anyone else there. "He's at the forensic lab trying to get a trace from the gift you received last night," Provenza told her. "This is getting to be ridiculous; did anyone see anybody drop this box off?" Andy asked them. "The box was here when Julio and I entered the office, Flynn!" Provenza told him. Tensions were running high again. "Gentlemen," Sharon said and tried to calm her Lieutenants down. "Let's open the box," she told Julio and he took his knife out and cut it open.

The box looked like the same box she had received last night at their house. When Julio opened it, there was tissue paper inside just like the last one. He moved the paper aside and in the middle was the rest of the dead rat. On the rat's body was a picture of Sharon with a line going across it. There was also a note inside. Julio picked up the note and handed it to Provenza. Provenza grabbed it with his handkerchief, looked at Sharon, and then read the note out loud.

"Sharon Raydor, or should I say Flynn now. Can't believe you'd marry a subordinate officer, after all you preached about when you were in charge of FID. You married the one man who gave you so much trouble on a daily basis; don't think I forgot about all that, Captain. I thought you would enjoy this present as it matches what was delivered to your house last night. You humiliated me in front of my colleagues and I am doing the same to you. Henry and Marvin were stupid to get caught. I'm not. I learned my lesson after nine years in jail," Provenza looked up as he was done reading the note.

"Don't touch any more, bring it to Mike down at the lab and see if they can pull anything off of it," Sharon said as she placed her hand over her mouth and walked into her office. Provenza and Andy both looked at each other as Sharon walked away. "We need to find her," Andy said to Provenza and then walked over to his desk and took off his suit jacket, laying it over the back of his chair and then he entered Sharon's office. Provenza walked over to his desk and picked up his phone. "Yeah, give me the desk Sergeant," he said in the phone and looked up to watch Sharon and Andy in her office. Meanwhile, Julio took the box with the rest of the rat down to meet Mike at the lab.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 22

Andy stood in Sharon's office as she sat behind her desk. "So," he said to her as she sat there. Sharon didn't look at him. She was focusing her attention on the paperwork that was on her desk. He wanted to talk about the note that was left in the box but didn't know how to approach it. "Sharon, I, um," he said as he scratched his head with two fingers and then cleared his throat. Sharon then looked up at him. He had his concerned look on his face again. "What I want to say is," he started again but stopped mid-sentence.

Sharon continued to watch him struggle with the words he was looking for. "It's okay Andy, that letter she wrote is her vindictive way of getting back at me, I understand your concern with what she said but, I know you, and I wouldn't trade what we have together for anything else in the world," she said to him as he stood there in front of her. "Sharon, I don't doubt what we have together, that was never a concern for me," Andy said to her.

"Okay, then what were you trying to say?" she asked him. "I'm just concerned about you," he said as he sounded frustrated. "You know what I would like to know?" she asked him and he shook his head slightly and told her no. "I'd like to know why haven't we found her yet?" she said as she shuffled some papers around. Andy didn't know how to respond to Sharon's question. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it when Sharon started to talk. "I mean, obviously she came here to the PAB, she's either getting desperate, reckless, or bold," she said as she looked up at him standing in front of her desk.

"Provenza's calling the desk Sergeant right now to get the footage from the cameras inside and outside the building," Andy said to her. "We'll find out who brought that package here," he added. He turned around to see Buzz walking into the office. "And, now that Buzz is here, we can go over the footage and see if maybe all these cameras here caught Ally with it," Andy said as he turned back around to face Sharon. Andy then placed his hands on the back of the empty chair and leaned forward on it. There was silence in her office for a brief moment before Andy spoke again. "She wants you, not our kids," he said. Which she should have been relieved at that, but she wasn't.

"Buzz, Buzz!" Provenza said and snapped his fingers to get his attention. He was still on hold with the desk Sergeant. Buzz turned around and looked at Provenza. He placed his bag down at his desk and walked over to him. "Yes, Lieutenant?" he said. Provenza covered up the receiver and spoke to him. "I'm trying to get video footage of this place from last night and this morning, do you think you can do what you do and play it in the RACR room once we get it?" Provenza asked him. "Sure Lieutenant, that won't be a problem," Buzz said and then started to walk back to his desk. "Good, thank you Sergeant!" Provenza said and hung up the phone.

Buzz stopped and returned to the Lieutenant. "Um, what exactly would we be looking for?" he asked Provenza. "The Commander received a package last night at their house and again this morning, here at her office. We need to find out who brought that package here, ASAP, Buzz," he said and then stood up from his desk and walked towards Sharon's office. "Sure," Buzz said and then he returned to his desk.

Provenza knocked on the door and peeked in the side window. Andy saw him and opened the door. Provenza stepped inside. "Well, Commander, I spoke with the desk Sergeant downstairs and he is sending the surveillance video from last night and this morning. I also have Buzz working on that in the RACR room once we get it," Provenza said to Sharon as he looked at her. "Good, meanwhile I'm going to call Andrea and see how Ally Moore was able to get out after nine years for a murder charge," Sharon said as she leaned back in her chair.

"We'll keep you informed," Provenza said to her and then signaled for Andy to leave with him. Andy gave Sharon one last glance and then followed Provenza out of her office. "Lieutenants! I have the video footage, what exactly would I be looking for?" Buzz said as he held up the thumb drive that he used to download the video. Andy was reluctant to leave Sharon alone in her office. "Um, any chance we could look at the footage here? I don't want to leave her here alone," Andy said to them.

"I can look at it here on my computer first and then once we find what we are looking for, we can all go into the RACR room to view it," Buzz said as he saw the concern on Andy's face. "Good, we are looking for someone who's carrying a box inside the building and then also up on the ninth floor, preferably the same person," Provenza said and Buzz acknowledged. Andy turned around to see Sharon on the phone in her office.

"Andrea, I need to know how she was released, on good behavior too," Sharon questioned. "I'm looking at the case file here, the parole board granted her early release," Andrea said over the phone. That frustrated Sharon even more. "She was convicted of the murder charge and was sentenced to 30 years?" Andrea kept reading the file. "How can that be?" Sharon asked her. "That's our lovely judicial system. I can only do so much! It looks like, according to the file, that a judge sentenced her to that term, and it was agreed upon by both attorneys," Andrea stated.

"Who was the DA in that case?" Sharon asked her. Andrea searched through the file and saw the DA's name. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "DDA Rosen," she said and Sharon closed her eyes. "Okay, thanks for the info, Andrea. I appreciate it," Sharon said and then hung up her office phone. She couldn't ask DDA Rosen what had went down with that trial because he was killed by Dwight Darnell in the courtroom shooting last year. 'Another dead end,' she thought to herself. She then glanced out of her office and saw Andy standing over Buzz while he was at his computer. Provenza was sitting at his desk now. And Amy had just walked in to the office.

Sharon stood up and walked out of her office to speak with Amy. "Amy, how did things go last night?" she asked her. "Everything's been quiet so far. Cooper is still there right now, but he wanted to brief the other shift before he came in," Amy informed her. "Thank you," she said to her and then walked over to where Andy and Buzz were. Andy looked up from Buzz's monitor and saw Sharon walking towards him. "Anything?" she asked him. Andy folded his arms across his chest. "No, nothing yet," he answered her and sighed. "What did Andrea have to say?" he asked her as he walked away from Buzz's desk and moved Sharon with him.

"Just another dead end. Judge granted 30 years, parole board granted early release after nine years," Sharon said to him as they now stood in front of Andy's desk. She looked around the office with her hands on her hips. "Anybody hear from Mike or Julio yet?" she asked and then they both walked into the office. Mike and Julio both walked over to their desks and had a seat. Sharon walked over to them and Andy followed her. Mike was typing something on his computer.

"Anything on where our rat came from, Mike?" she asked him. "Yes, I'm pulling it up right now," Mike said as he continued to type on his computer. "Okay, so the lab was able to trace the rat to a science lab on the campus of USC," Mike said as he pointed to his computer screen. "How were they able to trace it?" Andy asked him. "Well, each lab rat, so to speak, has a unique microchip embedded inside of its neck. The head of this rat didn't have anything but, when Julio brought the body in, they found the microchip there and then traced it that way," Mike explained. Provenza rolled his eyes at Mike's explanation.

"So now, we're looking on the campus of USC?" Provenza asked as he leaned back in his chair. "No, just the science lab there, Lieutenant," Sharon stated and then looked at Mike. "Can we get a list of people who work at this lab? Students? Anybody?" she asked Mike. "I'll contact the lab and have them send me a list," Mike said and Sharon nodded. "Commander! I think I got something here!" Buzz called out and both Sharon and Andy walked over to his desk.

"What is it?" she asked Buzz. "Well, you see this person here. Watch him for a couple of seconds and you'll see someone approach him outside," Buzz said as he pointed to the screen. Both Sharon and Andy watched the video and Buzz slowed it down to the exact moment when Ally Moore approached Sergeant Samuels. "There, pause it Buzz," Sharon said and he did. The screen showed a blond haired woman, talking with a uniformed officer.

"That's Ally Moore," Andy said and Sharon nodded her head. "But who is she talking to?" she asked out loud. "Can you zoom in on the officer, Buzz?" Andy asked him. "I can try but the picture might get too grainy to tell," Buzz said as he clicked on the mouse. The picture zoomed in but they weren't able to get a clear reading of the name. "He's a Sergeant according to the stripes on his uniform," Buzz said. "Yeah, but where?" Andy stated. "I can try looking at this in the RACR room, that way, we can see both images," Buzz said. Sharon and Andy both looked at each other with an uneasiness feeling. Someone at the PAB was helping Ally.

Ten minutes later, the team was sitting in the RACR room as Buzz was running the videos on the screen. Sharon stood off to the side of the screen and the rest of the team were sitting at the table. Andy was sitting at the end of the table, closest to Sharon. "Alright, here is the picture of the woman meeting up with a Sergeant outside in the courtyard," Buzz said as he placed that picture on the screen. "Do we have a current picture of Ally Moore to compare this with?" Provenza asked. "No sir, the only one I pulled up was from nine years ago from her credentials," Buzz answered and then placed that picture up on the screen.

"Well, that could be any blond haired woman," Provenza stated as he looked at the picture that was taken this morning. "There's no picture of this woman's face, Buzz?" Sharon asked as she turned around to face him. "No ma'am," Buzz said and Sharon turned around to face the screen again, shifting her stance. "We will just have to assume it's her then," she said. Andy glanced over at Provenza who was sitting across from him on the other side of the room. "I want to know who that Sergeant is," Andy said.

"I can zoom in on another shot; it gets him closer, there!" Buzz stated as he zoomed through some more pictures and found a better one with a clear shot of the name tag on the uniform. "Samuels," Julio read the name. "Sergeant Samuels?" Sharon said as she thought back through her years in FID. "Does that name ring a bell, ma'am?" Julio asked her. "Yes, it does," Sharon said and then turned around to look at the picture again.

"Buzz, play the ninth floor footage, let's see if our Sergeant comes up to this floor," Sharon said and waited until Buzz placed the video on the screen and played it. "There he is," Andy said as they watched him exit the elevator and look around. "And there he is entering our office, with the box," Provenza said. Buzz stopped the video at that point. Provenza and Andy both stood up from their chairs in the room. "Julio, Amy, please find Sergeant Samuels and bring him up here. I would like to have a chat with him," Sharon said. "Yes ma'am," Amy said and the two of them left the room.

Andy watched Sharon as she stood looking at the screen. "Commander, do you know Sergeant Samuels?" Provenza asked her. "Yes," she said but she didn't turn around. Provenza and Andy both glanced at each other and then Andy focused on Sharon. "I stripped him of his rank when I was in FID," she said as she stared at the screen. Andy stood there rubbing the back of his neck. She turned around to face them and Buzz, who was still standing at the video controls. "Why would he help Ally Moore?" Andy asked her. "That's a good question, we can ask him when he gets here," Provenza stated and then they all walked out of the RACR room.

As they walked back into the office, Provenza's desk phone was ringing. He passed Mike sitting at his computer looking over the list of people that the school lab sent him. "Lieutenant Provenza," he answered his phone and he listened to the other person. "Wait, where?" he said and both Sharon and Andy walked over to his desk. Mike looked up from where he was sitting. "What's going on?" she whispered to him but Provenza waved her off. "Alright, keep me informed," Provenza said and then hung up his phone. He looked at both Sharon and Andy.

"That was Sergeant Thomas with the SIS detail at Matthew's school," Provenza said and Sharon's heart dropped once she heard those words. "Matthew is fine," he said as he noticed the color of Sharon's face turned pale. Andy quickly looked at her and placed his hand on her arm. "They spotted someone who matched the description of Ally Moore by Matthew's school. They did not break cover but had patrol come over to check things out. He just informed me that patrol officers are in a foot chase with that person," Provenza told them.

Sharon closed her eyes. She felt relief and fear at the same time. She took a deep breath and then opened her eyes to look at Andy. Andy felt her sway a little bit and grabbed both of her arms. "Shit," he whispered as he caught her falling into him. Mike stood up and quickly went over to them. "Sharon?" Andy said in a panicked voice. Provenza moved his chair so that Andy could sit her down in it. She came too as soon as Andy placed her in the chair and she rubbed her head. Andy knelt down next to her and Mike grabbed a bottle of water they had for the office.

Andy held the bottle of water to her lips. "Take some small sips," he said to her and she did, slowly. "Do you feel dizzy at all?" Mike asked her. "No," she said as she shook her head. "Do you want me to call the paramedics?" Provenza asked. "I'm fine, really," she said to her Lieutenants as she took another sip of water. Provenza's phone rang again and he answered it. "Alright, thank you," he said and hung up. "They lost that person, ducked in an alley and can't find them," he said focusing back on Sharon.

Andy held Sharon's hand in his as he continued to kneel down next to her in the chair. He watched her closely. "Sharon, he's fine," he whispered to her and moved some strands of hair that fell over her eyes. She held his gaze for a minute as she processed his words to her. Mike interrupted the moment between them.

"What did you have to eat this morning?" Mike asked her as he handed her some vanilla cookies he got out of the vending machine in the breakroom. "Thank you," she said as she took them and then answered his other question. "I had some toast," she said and looked at Andy who was watching her. "She hasn't been eating much for breakfast, lately," he said to Mike and Provenza. She glanced at Andy. It was true that the past couple of days, she had only ate toast for breakfast. But, she didn't need everyone else knowing that.

"Follow this tiny light," Mike said to her as he took a small pen light out of his bag and shone it to her. "This isn't necessary," she said. "Humor me, okay?" Andy asked her as Mike checked her pulse. It seemed normal to him. "I don't think you need to see a doctor, unless you start to feel dizzy," Mike said to her and Andy. "Thank you Mike, but I'm fine, really," Sharon said again to her Lieutenants, trying to convince them more than herself at the moment.

Meanwhile, Julio and Amy walked into Interview Room 1 with Sergeant Samuels. "Mind telling me what's going on now?" he barked at them as he entered the room. "Just have a seat. Our Commander has some questions for you about a recent case you're involved in," Julio said to him. "What case? I don't know anything," he stated as he sat down on the chair. "Do I need my union rep?" he asked Julio. "I'll stay here with him, go see what they want to do," Julio said to Amy in a low voice. "Sure," she said as she glanced back at the Sergeant before leaving to room to head into the Murder Room.

When Amy walked into the Murder Room, she saw everyone gathered around Provenza's desk. She walked over to them and noticed that they were surrounding Sharon who was sitting in Provenza's chair. "Is everything okay?" she asked them. Provenza turned to her. "Fine Sykes, everything is just fine. Did you find our Sergeant?" he asked her. "Yes, Julio is watching him in Interview Room 1 right now," she said as she glanced over at Sharon. "You stay here with the Commander while Flynn and I interview him," he said to her and she nodded.

Before Sharon could protest, Andy stood up and helped her to stand as well. "I think you should watch from electronics, let Provenza and me handle this one, okay?" he said to her, almost pleading with his eyes. She looked at him and knew he was right. "Okay," she said and then Amy walked slowly with Sharon and Mike into the electronics room to watch their interview. "I'm really fine, guys," she said to them as they entered the room. Andy stood there and watched them go inside before he turned around and looked at Provenza. "I'm going to nail him, and I'm going to nail Ally for this," Andy muttered to Provenza and they both left the Murder Room and headed over to Interview Room 1.

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the wonderful and positive reviews so far for this story. I appreciate it!

To the "guest reviewer" who doesn't sign their name, I just want to let you know that I'm not an ignorant person. I happen to hold a Master's degree in Criminal Justice, and I have written numerous papers for that. If you feel like criticizing my writing, go ahead as you have that right, however I just want to let you know that a simple grammar mistake in a story is no reason to banter on, and continue to do so. Once again, I am not writing this story for a grade in class. This is for the enjoyment of fellow fans of the show while we wait on this super long hiatus. If you do not like my writing, you don't have to read this story. Thanks, and I hope you have a great day!

To everyone else, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for sticking with this story!

Chapter 23

Sharon sat down at the table and watched the monitors as Andy and Provenza walked into the interview room. "He wants to know if he needs his union rep, sirs," Julio informed them as they walked in. "Oh, well, that all depends on if you did something you shouldn't have, Sergeant Mac Samuels," Provenza said to him as he and Andy sat down. Julio left the room and joined everyone else in electronics.

"What do you mean by that?" Sergeant Samuels asked them. Andy chuckled as he leaned his elbows onto the table and looked directly at Sergeant Samuels. "What time did you arrive at work this morning?" he asked him. "Ah, 7:30?" Sergeant Samuels stated. "And did you go directly to your office in the records division?" Provenza asked him. "Yes," Sergeant Samuels answered. Andy glanced at Provenza and then looked at Sergeant Samuels again. "You want to think that over again?" Andy said to him.

Sergeant Samuels looked at the both of them and started to shift in his seat. "You see here, Mac, we already know the answer to our questions, but we wanted to give you the opportunity to tell us the truth, and you failed on a simple question," Provenza said to him. "What is this about?" Sergeant Samuels asked. "It's about you bringing up a box here to our office and leaving it for our Commander!" Andy angrily said to him.

"Now, we have you on video carrying a box that a woman gave you outside into our office here on the ninth floor, that's pretty far away from your office down in records, isn't it?" Andy said to him. Sergeant Samuels swallowed the lump in his throat and sat back in his chair. "Do you like carrying around dead rats? Cause that's what was inside that box you handled," Provenza said. "I didn't know what was in the box! I swear!" Sergeant Samuels stated.

"Who gave you the box, Mac?!" Andy demanded. Sergeant Samuels didn't say anything. Andy looked at Provenza sitting next to him. "Mac, here's the thing. Like I said before, we already know, so why don't you stop wasting your time here and tell us the truth!" Provenza told him. Sergeant Samuels paused for a couple of seconds. At this point Andy was ready to pounce on him. "Ally Moore, the woman who gave me the box this morning was Ally Moore," he finally answered them. "How do you know Ally?" Andy asked him.

"When she was assigned to FID, she worked a case that I was involved with, that's how I know her," Sergeant Samuels said to them. "Your commander stripped me of my rank as Lieutenant and demoted me back to Sergeant after that case," he added. "Are you helping Ally in any other way?" Provenza asked him. He thought about that question before he answered. "She called me while I was downstairs a couple of days ago, and asked me if two people were arrested, I looked the names up for her," he said. "Unbelievable," Andy muttered to himself. "You're an idiot!" Andy said to Sergeant Samuels.

"Wait, look I didn't know what was in that box!" Sergeant Samuels stated. "Well that's too bad, Mac. Now stay here cause I'm sure IA would love to hear how you are helping out a convicted felon seek revenge on a police official," Andy said as he stood up from the table and leaned over to look at him in the eye. Andy and Provenza then walked out of the interview room and two patrol officers watched the Sergeant.

"Do you want me to call IA and have them come down here?" Mike asked Sharon. "I'll do it, meanwhile, get back to looking up that list that the school sent over," Sharon said to him. "Right," Mike said and then left electronics and headed to his desk. "Buzz, can you put that footage on a disk so that IA could have it?" she asked him. "Sure, I can do that," he said as he stood up and walked out of electronics. "Amy, find out where patrol lost the person they were chasing earlier. SIS called Lieutenant Provenza about it," she said. "Sure, Commander," Amy said and left electronics. Sharon then picked up the phone that was next to her and called Internal Affairs.

Andy and Provenza walked back into electronics and saw Sharon hanging up the phone. "IA has been notified of the Sergeant's predicament and are on their way up here now. I told them that we are handling the investigation into the dead rat and Ally Moore, they were fine with that," she informed them. "We need to find her, and soon," Provenza stated to Sharon. "Yes, Lieutenant, I couldn't agree with you more," Sharon said.

Everyone left electronics and headed back to their respected desks. Sharon stepped back into her office. Just as she sat down at her desk, she saw Assistant Chief Mason enter the Murder Room. He found his way into her office. "Chief, what can I do for you?" she asked him as he walked over to a chair and sat down in front of her. "I heard you had a little excitement last night and this morning regarding a rat's body that was packaged for you," he said to her. "Yeah, apparently she's trying to send me a message," Sharon said.

Meanwhile, not far from where Matthew's school was located, Ally Moore successfully eluded the patrol cops that had chased after her. She had wondered how they had gotten there so fast when she didn't even try to attempt to get inside the school building. She looked at herself in the mirror of a small bathroom inside Henry's apartment. She had picked the lock in order to gain entry inside. She needed to change her look and change it quickly. She took the scissors that were at the edge of the sink and started to cut her hair.

After she was finished, she took the box of hair color that she bought at the local store and read the directions. "Well, I always wanted to try brown hair," she said to herself as she started to rub the hair color into her hair. 30 minutes later, Ally Moore looked at herself again in the mirror and saw a brunette looking back instead of the blond she was used to. "I hope you're ready for tonight, Sharon," she said to herself as she quickly left the apartment and walked out the door.

Back at the office, Mike had Julio help him go through the long list of workers at the USC science lab. "Hey Mike, check this out," Julio said as he scooted his chair over to Mike's desk. They had printed out the list so that it would be easier to read. Julio pointed out the name that stood out on his list. "Does Ally Moore have any relatives?" Mike asked Julio. "We could look up her personnel file and see, I'm sure it's still in the system," Julio stated and scooted his chair back to his computer to do some research.

"I'm going in there with you," Andy said to Sharon as she started to open the door to the women's bathroom. "Andy, this is the women's bathroom, no boys allowed," Sharon said to him as she turned around and looked at him. "That hasn't stopped me before," he clearly reminded her. That brought a slight smile to her face. "Andy," she pleaded with him. He stood there watching her. "At least let me sweep the room before you go inside?" he asked her as he tugged on her sleeve of her suit jacket.

"I'll hold the door open while you sweep the room, just in case," Sharon said as she held the door open for him. "Deal," he said as he stepped past her and went inside. He looked at the stalls and opened the closet door inside the bathroom, and made sure that there was no one in there waiting to take Sharon by surprise. He had learned his lesson before regarding this with Missy Braxton, when she went after Sharon during their encounter with Bill Croelick.

He turned around and Sharon watched him. "All clear," he said to her as he leaned against the sink. "Good," Sharon said and then walked over to use the bathroom. She glanced back at Andy who was still standing by the sink. "Are you leaving?" she asked him. "Uh, no," he said quickly. She shook her head and then closed the stall door behind her. She flushed the toilet when she was done and walked out to wash her hands. Andy was right there and handed her a paper towel to dry her hands when she was done. "I think we should get you something to eat for lunch, so you don't pass out on me again," Andy said to her.

She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. "Fine," she replied and then hooked her arm around Andy's arm and they walked out of the bathroom together. They made their way back to the Murder Room where Julio and Mike were still working on that list of people. Buzz walked over to them and spoke to Sharon. "I made the disc for IA, did you want me to bring it down there to them?" he asked. "Yes, Buzz, that would be great," Sharon said and Buzz then left the office.

"Ah, Commander, got a second?" Mike called out to Sharon. Sharon turned to Andy. "Why don't we order something out for lunch?" she said to him and then walked over to Mike's desk. Andy walked over to the file cabinet and pulled out a folder where they kept all of the menus for the different restaurants in the area. "What do you have, Mike?" Sharon asked him. "Julio found a name on this list that matches Ally's last name, and we wondered if it could be a relative of some sort," Mike said. "Turns out ma'am, that Dennis Moore, is Ally Moore's nephew," Julio stated and handed a picture of him to Sharon.

"How do we know this?" Sharon asked. "We traced her family members through her old personnel file when she was on the force and discovered she had a sister. Her sister passed away but she had a son named Dennis Moore," Julio answered. "Do we know where he lives? Is he at the lab right now?" Sharon asked them. "We looked up his address and he is working right now," Mike said to her. "Good, head over to USC and speak with him there, find out if he is helping her, but we don't want to alarm her or him," Sharon told the two of them and they got up and left.

Sharon's cell phone then rang and she answered it. "Yes Amy, what do you have?" she said into the phone. "Nothing much to go on, but there is something that might be useful," Amy said. "And what's that?" Sharon asked. "Well, the alley that she was running into leads to an apartment building, and guess who owned an apartment there," Amy said. Sharon looked around the room at Provenza and Andy. "Who?" she asked. "Henry Dexter," Amy said and Sharon eyes suddenly went wide and she turned her head.

"Stay there until Lieutenants Provenza and Flynn, and myself get there!" Sharon said into the phone. "Will do," Amy replied. "Good work, Amy," Sharon said and then hung up her phone. "Lieutenants, we are going to Henry Dexter's apartment. Buzz, I want you to come with to video everything there," Sharon gave out her orders to them. They all placed their bullet proof vests on and walked out of the office. "Why are we going to Henry Dexter's apartment?" Provenza asked her. "Because I have a feeling Ally Moore is there," Sharon said as the elevator doors opened and they all stepped inside.

When they got down to the parking garage, Provenza and Buzz went in one car and Andy and Sharon went to their car. "If she is there, Sharon," Andy said as he looked at her. "I know," Sharon said. They knew what each other were trying to say, even though they didn't say the exact words. Andy nodded and then started the car and drove towards the location.

Across town at the USC Science Lab, Mike and Julio walk into the building and are greeted by a security guard there. "Can I help you?" the security guard said. "Yes, Lieutenant Tao, this is Detective Sanchez, LAPD. We were wondering if we could speak to Dennis Moore," Mike said to the security guard. "Sure, I can let him know that you're here," he said to Mike. "Uh, we prefer the element of surprise instead," Mike informed him and he nodded. The security guard then called back into the lab and spoke to Dennis.

A minute later, Dennis came out into the lobby area and saw two people wearing suits. He thought they were from the College Board when he walked over to them. "Hello, can I help you?" Dennis said to Mike. Mike turned around and looked at the young man. "Dennis Moore?" he asked him and flashed his badge on his belt. Dennis took one look at it and started to walk away but Julio was right there waiting for him and Dennis stopped.

"What's this about?" Dennis asked as Julio came up to him. "We'd like to talk to you about your aunt, Ally Moore," Mike said to him. "Okay, ah, well, you can come back to my small office and we can discuss whatever it is you want to discuss about my aunt," Dennis stated and then led the way into the lab area. He brought them into his small office and had a seat behind his desk. The office was crammed with papers and books everywhere.

"So, why do you want to talk about my aunt Ally?" he asked them. "Well, you see your aunt decided to drop off a severed dead rat to our Commander. Once at their private home, with just the head, and the rest of the rat was dropped off at the police headquarters. We were able to trace the rat back to here," Mike stated to him. Dennis's eyes went wide. "Oh, really? Huh, I'm not sure how she would get a rat from here, since I haven't seen her in a couple of years," Dennis stated to them, and he acted nervous and was very fidgety.

"Why'd you run from us, earlier in the lobby?" Julio asked him. "Oh, uh, I thought I was in trouble or something like that," he said with a nervous laugh. "Dennis, we know that you're lying, otherwise how could your aunt get a rat from this lab, without having someone on the inside," Mike said to him. Dennis just sat there. "Now, we need to know if you know where she is located," he asked Dennis. Dennis looked down at the desk and then back up at them.

"Alright, she showed up at the lab here, and said she wanted a dead rat for something that she was doing. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Then she showed up again and asked if she could stay at my place for the night because she said that there were cops parked outside of her apartment," Dennis started to say to them and realized that his aunt was probably in trouble now. "Oh my gosh! Am I going to jail because I helped her?" he asked them. Mike and Julio both looked at each other and then back at Dennis. "Do you know where she went this morning?" Mike asked him. "No, she didn't tell me. She left pretty early though," Dennis said as he sat there.

"I'll call the Commander and see what she wants to do with him," Mike said to Julio as he walked out into the hallway. "I'll keep an eye on him," Julio said and then watched Dennis as he sat there in his office. "Commander, we spoke to Dennis. He did give Ally Moore the rat that was discovered, but he doesn't know where she went this morning," Mike said to Sharon over the phone. "Okay, don't bring him in, just yet. We are on our way to Henry Dexter's apartment to meet up with Amy and some patrol officers," Sharon said to him as Andy turned the car down the street that Henry's apartment was located.

"Do you want us to meet you there?" Mike asked her as he glanced at Julio. "Head over here and meet us. We are going to breach his apartment and take a look around. I have a feeling that Ally Moore might be there," Sharon said to him. "Will do," Mike said and hung up his phone. "Ah, Dennis, I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you, just in case we need to talk again," Mike informed him. "Oh, okay, sure," Dennis said and then watched as Julio and Mike left his office.

"That guy is one strange dude," Julio stated to Mike as they made their way outside to their car. They both hoped in and Julio drove them over to meet up with everyone else.

Andy pulled up their car to the curb right in front of Henry's apartment building. Sharon and him got out of the car and met up with Amy who was standing by the entranceway. Provenza and Buzz also joined them. "There's no sign of anyone matching the description of Ally that I saw entering and leaving the complex," Amy informed Sharon. "Okay, let's head up to Henry's apartment. I want patrol to stay down here, keep an eye out," Sharon said and the patrol officers nodded. "Buzz, get behind us," Provenza said as they started to walk up the stairs. There was no elevator in this apartment building so Provenza had to climb the stairs.

They reached the second floor of the building and went down the hallway that Henry's apartment was located on. Andy gave Provenza the quiet signal as he approached the apartment door. Sharon was standing right behind him. Andy leaned his ear up against the door to hear anything but all he heard was silence. "I don't hear anything," he whispered to the rest of them. "Okay, Amy, pick the lock, I don't want it to look like we forced the door open," Sharon said to her.

Amy pulled out her tools and started to pick the lock of the door. Within five seconds the door was unlocked and Andy slowly opened the door. "LAPD, anyone here?" Andy called out as he and Amy went through the rooms, followed by Sharon and Provenza. "Clear!" Amy called out as she went to one bedroom. "Clear!" Provenza said as he checked the kitchen. "Clear!" Sharon called out as she checked the living room and dining room. "Clear!" Andy said as he cleared the other bedroom and the small bathroom.

Andy turned on the light to the bathroom and that's when he saw the mess that was left behind. There were pieces of blond hair laying on the floor. The sink had some brown spots all over it and in the garbage can was a box of hair dye. "Hey guys? In here," Andy called out to them. Sharon came first followed by Provenza and Amy. "Well, she's not blond anymore," Provenza said as Andy held up the hair dye box.

Andy glanced at Sharon as Buzz was filming the bathroom area. "We must have just missed her, Sharon, by a couple of hours, maybe?" Andy said to her but she was focused on something else. "We need to get you some lunch," Andy said as he touched her hand to get her attention. "Commander, everyone has been updated with a new description of her," Provenza said as he joined Andy and Sharon in the living room. "Good, once Buzz is done here, I want to stop by Matthew's school for a minute and check on him," Sharon said. Andy looked at Provenza and then at her. "Okay, we can do that," Andy sighed.

Buzz was just finishing up documenting everything there. "I know he's okay but I just want to make sure with my own eyes. Five minutes and then we'll get going," Sharon said to Andy in the corner of the apartment. "Fine," he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and then saw Provenza nod at him that Buzz was finished. "Amy, we are placing an order for lunch," Sharon said to her. "I'll take care of it, Commander," Amy said and then went back to the scene. "Alright, let's go," Andy said to her and they walked out to their car. Sharon waved to Mike and Julio as they pulled up and she got in the car as Andy held her door open. Andy got in the driver's side and drove them over to Matthew's school.

Julio and Mike walked into the apartment complex and saw that the rest of the team was just finishing up there. "Traffic sucked, what did we miss?" Julio asked Amy as she was walking down the stairs. "Uh, apparently Ally Moore changed her hair style and went a darker shade," she said to him as she held up the evidence bag with the hair dye box inside. "The Commander wants us to go back to the office and try to find some new leads on her," she said as Julio turned around to follow Amy. "And we also need to pick-up lunch," Amy added as she got into her car that she drove over.

"Tao and I can handle picking up the lunch, just tell us where we ordered from," Julio said to her. "Manny's deli, around the corner from PAB," she said and started the car. Julio waited for Mike at their car and saw him walking out with Provenza and Buzz. Mike walked over to him and got in the car. "We need to pick-up lunch at Manny's," Mike said. "Yeah, that's what Amy said," Julio stated as he started the car. "Where did the Commander and Lieutenant Flynn go?" he asked Mike as they drove away. "Provenza said that she wanted to stop by Matthew's school to check on him for a minute before returning to the office," Mike said as they drove back.

Andy glanced over at Sharon who was staring out the window. "Hey," he said as he grabbed her hand with his right hand. "She wants our attention but then she keeps alluding us, I don't get it," Sharon said as he drove. "Maybe that's all she wants, attention. She got it before when we investigated her for her husband's murder, she had nine years without attention, and now she's craving it again," Andy said to her as he pulled into the parking lot of the school. Sharon hoped that Andy was right in his assessment and that it wasn't anything more. Sharon then got out of the car and Andy joined her. They both walked into the school building and went to the principal's office.

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the wonderful support and positive reviews! I appreciate them very much!

Chapter 24

"Mr. and Mrs. Flynn, what can I help you with?" Principal Gottardo asked them as they walked into the school's office. "We just wanted to check on Matthew and make sure everything is fine," Sharon said to her. "Oh, is there a problem that we should know about?" Principal Gottardo asked her. "Um, nothing to be concerned about," Sharon replied and hoped the principal wouldn't ask any further. "Sure, Matthew's grade should be on the playground for recess right now," she said and showed Andy and Sharon the way over to the outside door.

They walked past a hall of windows that overlooked the playground. Sharon saw the kids playing ball and swinging on the swings there. She then spotted Matthew playing in a group and she stopped. "We don't have to go outside," she said as she watched Matthew from the window. Andy looked at the principal and then at Sharon. Sharon then turned to Andy. "He's okay," she simply said to him. "Yes," he said as he nodded his head.

Deep down, Sharon knew inside herself that Matthew was just fine, but she needed re-assurance. Sharon then turned to the principal. "Sorry to have wasted your time, thank you," Sharon told her and then they walked back to the main entrance of the school. "Have a good rest of your day, now. See you in a couple of hours," Principal Gottardo said to them before she returned to her office. Andy looked at Sharon as the two of them walked out of the building. "I'm sorry, I just needed to know for sure," she said to him as they walked back to their car.

"It's not a problem, Sharon. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't pull him out of school today since you seemed to do that whenever someone went after Rusty," Andy said to her as he held her car door open. "Yeah, well that was different. He actually had a legitimate threat after him, and as you pointed out, she hasn't threatened our children," Sharon said sharply to him and he hung his head. Yep, that might bite him in the end, he thought to himself as he closed the door and walked around to the driver's side.

"Do you think I'm not treating Matthew the same as I treated Rusty?" she asked him as soon as he sat in the car. "Uh, there's really no good answer to that, is there," he said to her and knew he was in trouble as soon as he made that comment. "Look, all I'm trying to say, or lack thereof, is that you wanted Rusty safe no matter what, and during that time, the way to do that was to take him out of school and keep him close. And yes, I get it this is different, because Matthew did not get any threats against him," Andy said but as he said those words, it wasn't making sense to him anymore.

He felt defeated and placed his head in his hand as he leaned his elbow on the side window. Sharon stared out her side window for a second before she spoke. "I'm not mad at you, if that's what you think," she said to him. "I just want this to be over with and we catch her, that's all," she added. "I know, you're tired of this cat and mouse game that she's playing. I am too," Andy said as he started their car. "So, where do you think she is?" he asked her as he pulled out of the parking lot. "All of these little things were meant to throw us off somehow," Sharon said, her ring caught her eye as she twirled it around her finger.

"Yeah but off of what?" Andy asked as he turned the corner. "She wants revenge, right?" she asked and Andy nodded. "So what's the ultimate revenge?" Sharon asked as she looked at Andy. Andy thought about it as he continued to drive. "To show that you're better than that person," Andy stated. "Perhaps, if she wasn't a psychopath then yes I would have to agree with you. But," Sharon started. "She is and the ultimate revenge for a psychopath is killing that person," Andy finished.

"She's changed her appearance because she knows everyone is looking for her, so she's either going into hiding, which I doubt, or," Sharon said and Andy finished her thought process as they continued to drive back to the PAB. "Or, she wants to disguise herself to get closer to her objective, you," he said. "I've been her target all along. It had nothing to do with Henry's apartment, or Sergeant Samuels, or even Matthew's school," Sharon said as Andy pulled into the parking garage.

Andy parked the car and then turned to Sharon who was still inside. "Was she trying to lure you out? To get you to be by yourself somehow? I mean she has to have known that I'm not letting you out of my sight," he simply stated to her. Sharon shrugged her shoulders.

Just then, Andy's cell phone rang and he looked at the screen. "It's Cooper," he said to Sharon and then answered the phone. "Flynn," Sharon heard him say as she went through her head on what Ally Moore could be doing next. "What? No stay there, do not engage until I get there!" Andy said in the phone and hung up. "What's happening?" Sharon asked him. "Ally is at our house, I'm going over there. But I want you to be safe," Andy said trying not to alarm her.

"But," Sharon started to say but Andy stopped her. "No buts," he said as he got out of the car and then pulled out his phone. "Who are you calling?" she asked him as she stepped out of the car. "Hey, yeah can you come down here? I need you to watch Sharon while I take care of our problem. Cooper called, she's at our house now. Tell Mike and Amy to meet me there," he said into the phone and then hung up. Andy was tight-lipped after that and walked with Sharon towards the elevators.

"I don't need you handling me like I'm some invalid!" she told him as they waited for the elevators. "This is for your own safety, Sharon. Isn't that worth something?" he pleaded with his eyes as he spoke the words. The elevator doors opened and Julio and Provenza were both standing there. "Make sure she stays safe, and don't let her out of your sights, for anything, got it?" Andy said to the two of them. "We got it, sir," Julio said and Sharon looked at Andy.

She couldn't believe that he was going alone to the house without her. Not that he would be there by himself, there were SIS officers there and Lieutenant Cooper was there as well. Andy turned to her and pulled her in for a kiss. It was a desperate kiss, like a kiss you give someone who you are not going to see again. They broke apart and their foreheads touched each other. "Please Sharon, do this for me," he whispered to her and she looked into his eyes. "Be careful," she said to him and then watched him walk back towards their car.

"Commander? Let's get you back upstairs," Julio said to her as he held the elevator doors open. She went with the two of them. "He's your partner, right? How can you let him go alone?" Sharon asked Provenza as the elevator doors closed. "Because, he asked me to look after his wife, knowing that I'm probably the only one who'd she listen to. And, he's meeting up with SIS officers who are the best at what they do," Provenza said to her. Sharon just looked at him as the elevator took them to the ninth floor.

"I can't just sit here and wait," she said as she got off the elevator and made her way to the office. Provenza caught up with her. "Sharon," he said, and he rarely called her by her name. She stopped and turned around, surprised that Provenza would call her by her name. "You're going to have to, this time," he told her and she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She was furious inside but composed herself quickly. He held the door open for her and she walked inside the Murder Room followed by Provenza and Julio.

Andy drove over to their house with the lights on, and traffic moved out of his way. He pulled up to the surveillance van and got out of his car. Cooper opened the back door of the van and Andy leaned in. "Is she still there?" he asked him. "Yep, she walked around a couple of times and finally climbed the fence of the back yard. She jimmied the back door and she's inside your house now," Cooper informed him. "Great," he muttered.

Lieutenant Cooper looked behind Andy. "Where's the Commander?" he asked him as he wondered where Sharon was. "She's safe and being watched by Provenza and Julio right now. Mike and Amy should be here soon," he said and then saw them pull up behind his car. Mike walked up to Andy and patted him on his right shoulder. "Your wife is not happy right now," he said. "I know," Andy mumbled and knew that he would be getting an earful from her later on.

"Alright, gentlemen and lady, our suspect is inside the house. We are not sure where she is located but we have her on video breaking in and she hasn't left yet," Cooper called out to them. "We are going to be in two teams, one team for the front, the other will go in the back," he added. "There's three floors, basement, main floor, and bedrooms upstairs," Andy said as they started to move quickly to his and Sharon's house. Everyone was wearing vests and had their weapons drawn. They each had their radio connected with an ear piece so they didn't alert Ally with radio traffic.

"Daniels, I want you watching the perimeter in the back," Cooper shouted out. "Copy that!" Daniels stated as the team moved forward. "Murphy, you watch the front," Cooper called to Murphy and Murphy acknowledged. The two teams then spilt up, with Cooper, Amy, and three other SIS officers heading to the back of the house. Andy, Mike, and three other SIS officers went to the front. "Watch for friendly fire guys!" Cooper said over their radios.

Andy opened the front door with his key and pushed the door open. He then entered the house, weapon pointed and immediately went up the stairs to the second floor. Mike followed him while the other SIS officers stayed on the main floor, clearing those rooms.

Cooper and Amy went through the back door and entered the kitchen. He saw Andy and Mike head upstairs and the other SIS officers clear the front rooms. He motioned for two officers to clear the basement as he opened the door to the basement and then kept walking through.

Mike went to Matthew's room and cleared it. Andy walked to their bedroom. As soon as he stepped through, he heard a noise coming from their closet. "LAPD!" he shouted and alerted Mike and the others that someone was up there with them. Andy moved towards the closet and came face to face with Ally Moore. "Lieutenant Flynn, nice of you to finally catch up to me," she snickered at him. "Come out slowly with your hands where I can see them!" he told her.

Mike stepped in the bedroom and saw Andy pointing his weapon at Ally Moore. Ally Moore gave Andy a sinister smile and then glanced over at Mike, who also pointed his weapon at her. "Where's Sharon? She didn't want to play so she sent you two to get me?" she slowly walked out. "She's safe from the likes of you, now show me your hands!" Andy again shouted to her.

Ally shook her head. "I was hoping that she would be here so that I could ultimately do what I've been wanting to do to her for the past nine years," she said and then pulled out a gun but didn't point it at Andy. "Drop your weapon, now!" demanded Andy. He was focused on her. "It's a pity she's not here," she said as she dropped her weapon on the ground. "Move towards the wall," he paused and waited for her to move. She just looked at him. "Do it!" Andy yelled.

She slowly moved to the wall next to the window that overlooked the balcony in their room and stopped once she got there. "Put your hands against the wall, and don't move because I will shoot you," Andy gritted his teeth as he said that to her.

Amy walked into the room and saw the scene before her. She walked over to where Ally was standing, arms spread out against the wall. She glanced at Andy and he gave her a nod to go ahead. Amy then patted down Ally to make sure she didn't have anything else on her. Andy then handed Amy his handcuffs and she placed them on Ally's wrists, behind her back. "Ally Moore, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," Amy started to read Ally her rights as she walked her out of the room.

Mike glanced at Andy for a second. "You okay?" he asked him. Andy let go of the breath he was holding, his adrenaline high slowly coming down to normal levels. "I'm okay," Andy said. He then walked over to their closet to check on things and made sure everything was okay there before he turned around and nodded at Mike. "I'll drive Amy and our psycho friend back to the PAB," Mike said as he walked out into the hallway.

Andy followed Mike down the stairs and met up with Cooper as he walked back inside the house. "I had one of my guys move the vehicle closer so we weren't walking her down the block," Cooper said to Mike and Andy. "Good, see you back there," Mike said and walked out of the house. Andy looked around the first floor hallway. "You're going to need a new back door," Cooper said to him as they walked towards the kitchen. Andy rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I figured," he said as he looked around.

"Any way you can get a cleaning crew out here, you know, to go through the house?" Andy asked Cooper as they stood in the kitchen. Cooper looked at Andy. He knew it wasn't for him but for Sharon's piece of mind. "Yeah, let me see what I can do. I'll stay here until they're done," Cooper said and Andy shook his hand. "Thanks," Andy said and then left the house to head back to the PAB.

As he was walking to his car, he pulled out his phone. He knew Sharon would be worried about him so he called her. "Andy!" she answered the phone. "It's over, we got her," he simply stated. Sharon released the breath she had been holding ever since she sat down in her office. "Amy and Mike are bringing her in now, I'm just leaving the house," he paused as he got into his car. "Are you okay?" she asked him. "I'm fine, no one got hurt," he said. "Thank God," she whispered and that brought a smile to his face.

"Cooper is staying at the house and having a cleaning crew come out there. We're going to need a new back door," he said as he started the car. "That's not a problem," she said as she looked at Provenza who sat in her office. "I'll see you in a bit," he said to her. "I love you," Sharon said into the phone. She didn't care if Provenza heard her, because there was nothing to hide regarding that. "I love you too," Andy said.

"When this is all over, you and I are going to have a talk," she whispered loud enough so he could still hear her over the phone. Andy knew that she was a little mad at him for handling her, as she put it. He hung his head and sighed. "I know. See you in a couple of minutes," was his reply and then he hung up his phone. He then pulled onto the street and headed back to the PAB.

Provenza pretended not to overhear their conversation. He knew that Andy would probably get an earful from her whenever they had closed this case. "Now Commander, remember that you two have been through a lot together, and sometimes Flynn doesn't think before he acts," Provenza rambled but Sharon held up her hand to stop him. "I know, Lieutenant," she said as she watched him stand up from his seat. "Well, I will prepare an interview room for our psycho friend," he said to Sharon as he started to leave her office. "Thank you," she said to him. Provenza turned around to face her. "See, I told you he would be just fine," Provenza nodded and then left her office. Sharon smiled and sat there at her desk contemplating their interview with Ally Moore.

Meanwhile, as Mike drove him, Amy, and Ally Moore back to the PAB, Ally Moore did not stop talking about Sharon. Amy looked straight ahead as she sat in the back seat with her, wishing she would take her right to remain silent literally. Mike looked in the rear view mirror and caught Amy's eyes. He gave her a wide-eye expression and Amy just shook her head. They couldn't get back soon enough.

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

 **A/N:** Thank you all for the wonderful support! This chapter concludes this story. I hope you have all enjoyed it. I have already wrote another story which will be published soon. It will take place a day after this chapter ends. Thanks everyone and enjoy!

Chapter 25

Amy walked into the Murder Room and found Provenza standing facing the Murder Board. "Ah, Sykes, I take it our guest had finally arrived?" he said to her. "She's in Interview Room 1 with Mike and Julio," she nodded. "Good, good, hopefully we can get this over with and enjoy our weekend," Provenza said as he glanced over at Sharon who was sitting at her desk. "She did have this on her," Amy said as she held up the gun that was now in an evidence bag all secured and unloaded.

Sharon looked up from her desk and saw Provenza and Amy talking with each other. She knew that meant that Ally Moore was already here and in the interview room. She stood up from her desk and made her way into the rest of the office. As she did that, Andy walked into the Murder Room and their eyes met. Andy glanced at Provenza and Amy before he walked over to where Sharon was standing. "Hi," he muttered as voice had caught in his throat. "Hi," she whispered back.

There were a million things that Andy wanted to say right there but he knew this wasn't the place for him to apologize profusely for his earlier actions. Provenza cleared his throat and broke the attention the two were giving each other. Andy turned his head to look at Provenza and Sharon walked over to where he was standing in front of the board. "Are you ready, Commander?" Provenza asked her and she nodded.

"Wait a second, you're going to interview Ally?" Andy stopped her. "Why not? She wanted my attention and everything," Sharon answered as she started to move but Andy reached out and held her hand. "I don't think this is a good idea. She's crazy! There's no telling what she will do when she sees you. She wants to kill you, Sharon, I'm not going to let you in there," Andy pleaded with her. "I stayed back when you asked me to, now it's my turn," she told him and then freed her hand from his grip. "Flynn, she's handcuffed to the chair in there, what can she do?" Provenza told him and Andy just glared.

"Then I'm going in there with you," he informed Sharon. Sharon turned around to look at him. She really needed to remind Andy who here was the commanding officer. He was letting his personal feelings get in the way, like he did earlier in the day. She wasn't going to let that slide. "I think it's best if you stay in electronics. I don't want her to think we were gaining up on her by having three of us in there at one time," she informed Andy. He was crushed at that moment. He couldn't believe that she would say that, especially in front of Provenza and Amy.

"Fine," he muttered to her and watched Provenza and Sharon walk away towards the interview room. He was not happy at that moment. In fact, he was almost fuming and could feel his blood pressure rising. Sharon glanced back at him. At that moment he knew why she wanted to go in there without him, but he was hurt at the moment and wanted to sulk. He watched Sharon turn the corner and leave. He stood there for a couple of seconds and then noticed that Amy was watching him. "Let's go watch this," he mumbled to her and then made his way over to Electronics where Buzz was already set up.

Andy walked inside the room and took a seat next to Buzz. He saw Sharon and Provenza walk into the interview room. He noticed the demeanor of Ally Moore change as soon as Sharon stepped inside. He watched as Mike and Julio then left to join them in Electronics. He settled into the chair and began to watch the interview.

"Hello Ally," Sharon said to her as she sat down in the chair across from her. Ally moved her hand but forgot it was handcuffed to the chair. "Sharon," she said. Provenza looked at Ally as he sat down and placed the file in front of him, along with the gun in the evidence bag, on the table. "I understand you've been read your rights, and that you're waiving your right to counsel?" Provenza stated. "That's right. I don't need a lawyer," Ally insisted as she sat there.

"Are you sure it's a good idea having the Commander in there with her?" Buzz asked Andy as they continued to watch the interview. "She's fine, Buzz," Andy said to him and watched Sharon on the monitor. Amy shook her head when Buzz had asked that to Andy. If only he had witnessed what she did before coming inside, he wouldn't have gotten that sour tone from Andy because there would be no need to ask. Buzz turned around and caught Amy's eye. Buzz thought it was best not to bring up anything else while they watched the interview.

"You are aware of the charges against you, correct?" Provenza continued. "Threatening a Police Commander, breaking and entering her house, sending a suspicious package to the same Police Commander here and at her house, which could be construed as an act of terrorism, possession of a weapon as a felon," Provenza read off the list as Ally sat there.

"Sharon, wait a minute! You got promoted to Commander? Wow, who'd you have to sleep with in order to finally get that? Couldn't be your Lieutenant Flynn, oh wait, you are sleeping with him," Ally stated and tried to get Sharon riled up but Sharon just sat there listening. "I saw your bed, and wow I mean, judging by how the sheets were left, I'd say you two had a pleasant night last night," Ally added.

Sharon was going to say something but that would have played right into Ally's hand. Everyone in electronics looked over at Andy as they listened to what Ally was saying. Andy's face was getting red and he shifted in his chair.

Provenza glanced at Sharon and saw Darth Raydor starting to make an appearance. He knew that he needed to interrupt Ally and get back to the interview itself and that's exactly what he did. "Alright, Ally, I never really cared for you when you were assigned to FID all those years ago. You were a psycho then, when you killed your husband, and you're a psycho now," he said to her and that got Ally's attention.

"What we would like to know, Ally, is why did you do all of this? The sending of the rat's head and body separately, changing your appearance, being seen at a neighborhood school, then breaking and entering Lieutenant Flynn's and my house?" Sharon said as she stared at her from across the table.

"Because you humiliated me. You thought you were untouchable, the great Sharon Raydor, with her rules and regulations, day after day after day. Do you know what it's like to be paraded in front of fellow police officers, ones who you might of investigated before?" Ally sneered. "You shouldn't have committed murder back then," Sharon said back. "I wanted you to know what it was like," Ally said and then paused a moment.

The door opened in to Electronics and in walked Andrea with Rusty. "I heard you caught Ally Moore, again," Andrea said to the team. "Yeah, she's an even more psycho than she was nine years ago," Andy grumbled as they continued to watch the monitors.

"I broke into your house and was going to wait for you and your faithful Lieutenant to come home, then I would have surprised you and killed you in front of him, or killed him in front of you. Not sure which one I would have done," Ally smiled as she confessed. Sharon sat there, stunned at the confession coming from her. "But then he caught me off-guard as I was going through everything in my head," Ally added.

Andy sat there and listened to what Ally had just confessed. His mind flashed to different scenes where Sharon and Ally are standing in their house. He shook his head to get the images out.

"You wouldn't think that we would see the back door to the house broken?" Sharon asked her. "I wanted you to find me there, it's the ultimate way of feeling violated. Do you feel violated, Sharon?" Ally asked her and then she smiled. "What happened to you?" Sharon asked. "I spent nine years in jail, that's what happened!" Ally stated. "You murdered your husband, remember? And then you tried to claim it as self-defense," Sharon insisted.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked them as they sat there. "We're the police, in case you forgot," Provenza answered her. Ally looked up from her seat and then leaned backed. Her shoulders slumped and was showing signs of defeat. "You win again, Sharon," she quietly said to her. Sharon and Provenza both looked at each other. "Or have you?" Ally added as she moved her hands again, only to be stopped by the handcuffs.

Amy and Julio then walked into the interview room and told Ally to stand up. Amy handcuffed her behind her back and led Ally out of the interview room. They took her down to Booking. Sharon stood up from her seat and Provenza waited for her to leave the room first. Andy was standing outside in the hallway. "Lieutenant Provenza, please handle the paperwork on this," Sharon said to him as she glanced at Andy. Provenza nodded and then headed back to the office.

That left Sharon and Andy in the hallway between the interview room and the door to the office. There was a little awkwardness between them. "You were right," Andy started off saying but Sharon stopped him. "Let's go to my office," she whispered and Andy followed her into the Murder Room and over to her office. He stepped in and she closed the door behind him. She then went over to her blinds and closed them for a little privacy.

Andy chuckled to break the silence between them. "Why do I feel like I'm in trouble all of a sudden?" he joked. Sharon gave him a little smile and then walked over to her desk. "Have a seat," she offered as she sat down behind her desk. Andy let out a puff of air from his mouth and reluctantly took a seat in front of her desk.

"Look, before you lay into me, or whatever you're going to do, I just want to say I did what I did to protect you," Andy said as he sat there looking at Sharon. "I know," she answered. "I may have not realized that at the time, as I was furious that you were handling me, not as your Commander, but as your wife," she added and folded her hands on top of her desk. "And you did that twice!" she continued.

"Sharon," he started to say but she held up her hand and he stopped. "I'm not mad at you," she explained. "Not anymore, anyway," she continued and he listened. "Andy, sitting in that interview room with her, as she confessed her true intentions with her actions over the past two weeks, let's say," she said and then cleared her throat as she thought through what Ally had confessed. Her eyes started to tear up and Andy saw this.

"If we hadn't known that she was there, I don't want to know what might have happened, especially with Matthew being home," she shook her head. "I know, I know," he said softly as their eyes met. "I'm glad it didn't come to that," he said after a long pause. "Me too," she said, barely above a whisper as her voice caught in her throat.

"But, if you ever try to handle me like that again, there will be punishment," she smiled. "Really? Like what, are you going to send me to one of those training seminars again?" he asked her. "Hmm, those don't seem to work with you," she said seriously. "Hey! I'll have you know that I went to every one of them with an open mind," he stated. "Uh huh," she said and sat back in her chair. "No, I was thinking of something that you could understand, more like a week of sleeping on the couch or something like that," she continued.

"You'd do that to me, your dashing Lieutenant?" he said as he faked being hurt. "We made those rules for a reason, Andy. We promised each other that we wouldn't let our personal feelings into our work. I know this isn't the first time it's happened," Sharon reminded him. He knew that and she was right. "I know," he sighed once again and felt defeated.

They sat there and discussed what had happened when Andy arrived at their house. "We split up into two teams, Mike was with me as we went up the front steps. We went upstairs first and as I stepped into our room, I heard a noise coming from our closet," he had explained to her. "I think she went in there to hide," he added as he remembered pointing his gun at Ally. "She had that gun with her, a .357 revolver, snub nose. She pulled it out, but never pointed it at us. Told her to drop it and she did," he continued.

Sharon listened to the rest of the story. "You were wearing your vest, right?" she asked him. "Yes, everyone was," he said. "We'll need to change the bed sheets in all of the rooms, just knowing that she was in our room," Sharon shook her head. "I know, believe me, that's why the cleaners are there with Lieutenant Cooper still," he said.

"Um, so, we're going to need to get a new back door. It still works for now, but, you know for peace of mind, I think we should get a new one," he added as he shifted in the chair. "We can do that this weekend, if you'd like. I'm sure we won't be on call," Sharon suggested. "Sure," Andy said. "Um, what are we going to tell the kids, anything? Rusty knows already but I'm sure he can keep it to himself if we ask him to," he asked her.

"I don't think they need to worry about what happened," Sharon said as she moved some papers that were on her desk in to her desk drawer. "I think Provenza can handle anything else that arises here, let's pick up Matthew early and get Moxie, and then head out towards Santa Monica, we can eat at that seaside restaurant and Matthew can play at the little park right there," she suggested to Andy as she stood up from her desk.

Before Andy could answer her, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Cooper calling him. "Yeah, Cooper, what's going on?" Andy said as he answered his phone. "Hey, we got a situation here at your house," Cooper said as he watched the gas company arrive. "What is it?" Andy said as he looked at Sharon. "Apparently while Ally Moore was here before we entered, she did damage to your natural gas pipe that's in your basement. I'm just glad it didn't blow up yet," Cooper informed Andy.

"The gas company is here, they turned the gas off and are taking a look at it right now," Cooper added as the technicians walked into the house. "Why didn't we smell anything when we entered the house?" Andy asked him. "Not sure, hang on a second," Cooper told him as a technician was speaking to him.

Andy looked at Sharon. "What is it?" she asked him. "Ah, there's a small gas leak at our house. Looks like Ally did some sort of damage to the main gas pipe in the basement," Andy said to her and then Cooper came back on the phone.

"Okay, Lieutenant, I was just informed by one of the technicians that they are going to repair your pipe in the basement. There was a slight leak. We didn't smell it at first because when she hit the pipe with a wrench, it didn't puncture anything," Cooper explained to Andy. "Okay," Andy said and Cooper continued. "We took pictures of it, I can send them to you so you can see," Cooper added.

"You know what? I'm going to head over there now and see for myself, thanks for letting me know," Andy said to him and then he hung up his phone. "Look, why don't you go pick up Matthew from school while I go back to the house and see what's going on," Andy suggested to her. "And then, I'll meet you in Santa Monica, after I pick up Moxie," he added. "No, I'll go with you," Sharon insisted. "But," Andy started to say. "It's not a suggestion, Andy," she interrupted him as she gathered her belongings.

She started to walk out of her office and Andy watched her for a brief second. "Fine," he muttered and then followed her out. She stood by Provenza's desk and he joined her there. "Lieutenant, I trust you can handle everything else? Andy and I are headed over to our house to check on the damage that Ally did and then we are calling it a day," Sharon explained to Provenza. "I'll handle things from here, Commander," he said to her. "Don't stay too late!" Sharon reminded him and then Andy and her left the office.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Andy asked her as they waited for the elevator. Her mouth opened at that comment. "Who's calling the kettle black?" she quipped back to him. He hung his head and wondered why it was taking the elevator so long to come up to their floor. "Why is everything a competition with you?" he asked as the elevator doors opened.

She shook her head and stepped into the elevator. Andy then joined her and she pressed the button for the parking garage. "I want to feel safe, Andy. Being there with you as we walk in our house to look at things, will help," Sharon confessed as they both stood there. The rest of the brief ride was silence, but before the doors opened, Andy held her hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her. She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I want you to feel safe, always," he added and then the doors opened to the parking garage.

They headed towards their car and got inside. Andy then drove them home to see what kind of damage Ally did to the house.

A week later, the whole Ally Moore case was behind them. She had been arraigned and held without bail. She was facing her sentencing hearing this morning. Sharon sat in her office and was going over some paperwork when there was a knock on her door. "Come in?" she said and the door opened. "Commander, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to head down to the courthouse with Hobbs and Sykes for Ally Moore's sentencing," Provenza stood at her door way.

Sharon took a deep breath and nodded at Provenza. "That's fine, Lieutenant. Please let me know the outcome," she said as she got back to her paperwork. Provenza stood there not knowing how to take Sharon showing no emotion. "Sure Commander," he finally replied to her and then walked over to where Sykes was waiting and then they walked out of the office. Sharon looked up at the two as they left.

Andy came back from the break room carrying Sharon's coffee cup. He saw that her door was opened and he walked right in, placing the coffee cup on her desk. "Here you go, just how you like it," Andy said to her and she smiled at him. "Where did Provenza and Amy go?" he said as he leaned up against her desk. "Ally Moore's sentencing hearing," Sharon simply said. "Um, you didn't want to go to that?" he asked in a surprised tone.

"No," Sharon said without looking up from the papers that she was reading. "I just thought that it might bring you some closure if you went," Andy suggested. Sharon then looked up at him and gave him a glare. "Okay, I could be wrong" he mumbled to himself and Sharon shook her head.

He knew that she was still having dreams about her in their house. This morning, Sharon had a complete nightmare, so much so she had jumped on top of Andy and when he had woken up from that, they talked about it.

" _Oomph!" Andy cried out as he felt someone jump on top of him in bed. He looked down as he awoke and saw Sharon's head buried into his shoulder. "Sharon?" he said to her and it took her awhile to look up at him. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Andy," she said as she felt embarrassed. She then scooted off of him but he held onto her arm. "Mind telling me why you threw your body on top of mine?" he whispered to her nicely._

" _I guess I was having a nightmare, although it seemed pretty real to me," she said to him. He sat up and faced her. He gently rubbed his hand on her arm while she told him what her dream was about. "She was right there, clear as day, and pointed a weapon at you. I started to run towards you, screaming your name, and I dove to knock you down away from her gun," Sharon explained. "Andy, I don't want anything to remind me of her, but every time I hear a noise in this house, my mind goes back to her," she said. "Honey, listen, she's in jail and she's not going to get out. I promise you," Andy pulled her into his arms and held her._

 _She breathed in his scent and laid her head in the crook of his neck. "Sharon, I've kept you safe, I've kept Matthew safe and Rusty safe. We've changed the locks, got a new back door, this house has never been cleaner, I don't know what to do to make you feel normal," Andy whispered gently as he held her. "If you want to go arrest a dirt bag because it will make you feel better, then I'll find someone breaking the law and let you arrest them," he said to her as a joke. Sharon chuckled._

 _She pushed herself up and leaned over him. She bent down and gave him a kiss. "Thank you," she whispered to him when they broke apart. He watched her roll off of him and laid down on her side of the bed. He laid back down and she curled her arm around his and draped her right leg over his right leg and went back to sleep._

"I thought you were supposed to find me someone breaking the law so that I could arrest them?" Sharon asked as she looked up at Andy who was still leaning on her desk. "Yes ma'am," Andy smiled at her and then walked out of her office and sat down at his desk. Now he just needed to get a case assigned to them.

The End


End file.
